Don't, Just Don't
by xXDonnaTylerXx
Summary: And who's he? What if that comment during The Stolen Earth turned out not to be innocent flirting so much as love at first sight for Jack and Donna? Set during and after The Stolen Earth/Journey's End. A little bit AU, Donna/Jack, Doctor/Rose.
1. Someone's Rose

**What if that comment over "outer space facebook" was not innocent, and actually love at first sight for Donna and Jack? I absolutely _love _the idea of them together, so this fic came about. There's DoctorRose in it as well, of course, but it's mainly about those two.**

**I am sooooooooooo looking forward to Journey's End in just two days (eep!) but a little worried about Dalek Caan's warning that the most faithful companion will die. 'Cos we all know who that is, right? Yup, a certain blonde with the same surname as me. Not looking good for Rose, is it?**

**Enjoy! Donna xxx**

Part One

Chapter One- Someone's Rose

"And who's he?" Donna asked, pointing a finger at the dark haired man on the screen. She leaned in closer to look at him, mesmorized, annoyed that the screen was split into four so his image was only tiny.

Jack suddenly caught sight of the red-haired woman standing behind the Doctor. His breath caught in his throat. Even in the midst of all that was happening, he couldn't help but think_: she is beautiful._

"Donna Noble, Captain Jack, Captain, this is Donna" The Doctor hurriedly introduced them, then felt the need to turn to his companion and add, "And don't...just don't."

It was a long running joke between the Doctor and him, but Jack was starting to tire of it. The Doctor had no right to assume he was a flirt and nothing more, what if one day Jack actually found someone he loved and got serious? His face stayed straight instead of cracking into a smile like the Doctor's. He nodded at Donna and mouthed "Later" in her direction. She smiled shyly back at him, quite unable to tear her eyes away from his.

Jack and Donna were simultaneously snapped out of it. "Jack?" Gwen asked worriedly, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Donna!" the Doctor did the same to her, and she shook her head to pull her thoughts together. Jack grinned sheepishly at her, and then the screen suddenly turned fuzzy, and they lost sight of he, Martha, and Sarah. "We've lost 'em!" Donna cried, panicking. Then the Doctor said something about another signal, and Donna was pulled back to reality. The Daleks. The war. the Darkness, the end of the universe.

_How can you be thinking about a cute guy right now, when there are so many dabgerous things happening_? Donna screamed in her head, and she focused back on the task at hand as a raspy voice boomed out.

xx

_Stop thinking about her, Davros is talking and there are Daleks on the way to Torchwood! _Was what was going through Jack's mind as he listened to the voice which sent shivers down his spine. There was work to be done.

* * *

"Thank you, Martha Jones!" Jack cried, and snapped the phone shut. He dashed over to Gwen, who helped him pull on the teleport device. "I gotta go," he said hurriedly, "I gotta find the Doctor_." And Donna_, he thought, but pushed those thoughts aside.

"I'll come back." he said to the worried looking Gwen and Ianto, "I'm comin' back!" he assured them, trying his best to smile.

"Don't worry about us. Just go." Gwen told him, trying to stop the worry from coming out in her voice.

"We'll be fine." Added Ianto.

The Captain grinned for real this time. "You'd better be!" he told them, then pulled the a heavy gun into his hands and disappeared in a flash of blue.

* * *

The Doctor said something about setting co-ordinates for Earth.

"Right, yeah," Donna agreed vaguely, trying not to look upset.

"You alright?" he asked her distractedly, not looking up from the controls.

"Yeah," she began, "I just..." she realised he wasn't really listening, so it would be a waste of breath. "Yeah."

"Here we are!" he cried, and bounded down the ramp without looking back, assuming she would follow him. Like she always did. Trailing after him everywhere like a little dog. She dawdled on her way to the door, telling herself off for wanting to complain. _What is the _matter _with you? _She asked herself furiously. _There's a battle going on here, they need you, this is no time to be weak!_

Donna followed the Doctor out of the TARDIS, and was shocked to see the London street deserted and wrecked. "It's like a ghost town," she muttered.

"Sarah Jane said they were taking the people, what for?" The Doctor turned to her, concentrating hard. "Think, Donna. When you met Rose in that parallel world, what did she say?"

She tried, really she did, but she couldn't concentrate. On the verge of tears, she mumbled her reply. "Nothin'. Just - The darkness is comin'."

He looked at her, eyes wide, clearly frustrated. She couldn't blame him, she wasn't being much use. "Anything else?"

Trying hard not to break down, she looked around her helplessly for an answer that she couldn't give. Then she caught sight of her. Rose.

A real smile broke out on Donna's face. "Why don't you ask her yourself?" She said quietly as the Doctor stared at her like she was mad. His brow furrowed, and he mouthed "wh-?" before he turned around and saw her too.

Donna's eyes filled up as the Doctor and Rose's eyes met, and as they began to run toward each other they spilled over. The Doctor and Rose had found each other again, and they were all each other needed. Donna had met the Doctor right after he had lost her, and he had been in bits. She had met Rose as she was searching for him, and she was an empty shell of a girl. They completed each other, and boy, was Donna happy for them. Really, she was.

But a tiny part of her could only think: _Why haven't _I_ found someone like that yet? Do I not deserve a Doctor? Do I not deserve to be someone's Rose?_

Waiting for them to reach each other was torture. The moment was nearly there, when suddenly the look on Rose's face turned to panic. Donna by now could tell that something was not right, and she set off at a run toward the couple. She saw the Dalek just as it screeched "EXTERMINATE!"

She saw the Doctor try to dash out of its firing line, and fail. She saw him fall to the ground, apparently lifeless. She saw Rose run to him, drop to her knees beside him. And, out of the corner of her eye, Donna saw Captain Jack appear in a flash of blue light and blast the Dalek to pieces before it could possibly destroy their lives any more.

She ran toward him at the speed of light, all the while thinking _God, no, he can't die. Not him, Not my Doctor. Anything but this!_

xx

Jack appeared on a deserted London street, just in time to hear "EXTERMINATE!" and see the Doctor fall flat on his face. And to see Rose Tyler dropping beside the Doctor, taking his head in her hands. The gorgeous woman named Donna ran toward them, her face tear streaked and in a state of panic. _First things first,_he thought, and blasted the Dalek to hell before dashing to the Doctor.

Donna reached the Doctor at the same time as Jack did, and he cried "Get him into the TARDIS, quick!" She obliged, their eyes meeting briefly over the Doctor's limp form as they dragged him towards the police box. She looked terrified, and he gave her a reassuring nod, his eyes saying everything.

xx

Donna and Rose finally deposited the Doctor on the grated floor of the TARDIS. Sobbing and absolutely petrified, Donna stood up. "What do we do?" she asked through her tears. "There must be some medicine or something!" This wasn't happening. The Doctor couldn't die, not now, not here.

She looked helplessly at Jack, who came toward them. "Just step back!" He said, frantically but kindly. "Donna! Rose! Do as I say and get back! He's dying, and you know what happens next!"

"What d'you mean?" She sobbed. "Whad'you mean, what happens next?" She heard the Doctor grunt in pain.

"It's starting..." his voice came faintly, and Donna stepped closer to Jack.

xx

She stepped closer to him. Jack could see how frightened Donna was, and put his arms around her. This was entirely meant to comfort her, but surprisingly it helped him, too.

They both looked over at Rose, who was still crouched next to the writhing Doctor. "Rose..." he called, but he knew it would be no use. Rose had just found her Doctor again, and by no means would she step away from him now. He sighed, giving up on trying to convince Rose to step back. Instead, he cried "Good luck!" and held tightly to Donna as the Doctor began to glow gold.

A determined look came over Rose's face. "I've come all this way." She said, breathing heavily through her tears, "There's no way I'm lettin' you go now."

The Doctor managed to pull himself to his feet, trying desperately to shake Rose's hand off his own. She didn't let go. "I'm regenerating..." he managed to force out, before the gold light erupted from his body in great streams. Donna and Jack shielded their faces, but Rose wouldn't give up on him.

She took a deep, resolute breath, then stepped forward and kissed the Doctor passionately. The gold light engulfed both of them, so neither of them were visible.

Donna didn't even know about normal regeneration, let alone this, and Jack had no idea what this would do to Rose and the Doctor. Clinging tightly to one other, tears streaming down both of their faces, all they could do was wait and see what would happen next.

**Did you like it? Please review! I know this chapter was mostly just recapping the TV show, but the next one (which i will definitely get up before the finale airs) will be entirely my creation. I had to make something up for the last part of this, because I really have no idea how he's gonna get out of regenerating. This would be good, though!**

**Donna xxx**


	2. The Same One

**Hi! Can I say thanks to all who left me such lovely reviews, keep 'em coming! I love hearing what people think. Now, this chapter was completely made up by moi, this is what I hope happens tonight. Although, it really won't. Grr. **

**I've thought a bit more about what Caan said, and maybe it isn't Rose. I mean, think about it, it could be any of them. Donna's sacrificed herself and her children to get back to the Doctor. Martha walked the earth for a year for him. Jack took on immortality, Sarah Jane found him again after 30ish years then left her son at home with just a computer to go and find him. It could be any of them, although my best bet is K-9. He is surely the Doctor's most faithful friend! **

**The next chapter won't be up until after the finale, but i'll try to keep it as ddifferent as possible to the actual show, 'cos it's boring otherwise. Enjoy the chapter and enjoy Journey's End!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Two- The Same One

Rose didn't know what to do. She couldn't let him regenerate, not now when she'd only just found him. It had been so hard to adjust when it had happened the first time, it would break her heart to go through that again. But how could she stop him? He'd already started to glow, and pretty soon it would be too late.

The light burst from his body, but still she didn't let go of his hand. She was sure that if she was close to him, touching him, then it wouldn't happen. Wanting, needing to be closer to him still, she did the only thing she could think of, and the thing she wanted to do most. Scrunching her eyes up at the sun-bright light that was streaming from the man she loved, she slid into his arms and kissed him.

As soon as she started, she knew she'd done the right thing. Her pain and fear were immediately replaced with a warm, content feeling. She felt the energy spread from him into her, and it was strangely comforting. The last time she had felt this way was when she'd looked into the heart of the TARDIS the first time he'd regenerated.

The two of them were now completely immersed in the golden light, and Rose, although not knowing what was happening to her, took comfort in the fact that whatever it was, it was affecting them both in the same way. She and her Doctor were in it together, and together they would make it through.

xx

After what seemed like an eternity to Jack, the gold light surrounding Rose and the Doctor began to fade. He tightened his grip on Donna, sensing that she was even more scared than him - and that was saying something.

xx

Donna was absolutely mortified. What happened when the Doctor died? Surely he must have been unable to avoid it after living for 900 years? Surely he had died before, surely he could survive? And if he didn't... No. She didn't allow herself to think about that. It simply wasn't an option in Donna's books. He was going to be fine. He had to be.

The light surrounding the couple was fading. Donna tried desperately to get a better look, but at the same time refused to break contact with the Captain. She eased herself out of his embrace, but still she grasped his hand as she stepped cautiously forward. The light cleared even more, and now she could just make out the shapes of two figures, lying unconscious on the hard metal floor.

xx

Jack's breath caught in his throat as he saw the two lying on the TARDIS floor. There she was, Rose Tyler, and beside her the Doctor, _the same _Doctor. The same unruly brown hair, the same skinny frame. The sideburns, the suit, everything. He hadn't changed one bit.

Sighing in relief, Jack knelt beside them.

"Are they alright?" Donna whispered from behind him. He felt both of their chests. Three hearts in total, all beating at a normal speed. He stood up to face Donna.

"They'll be fine. I think." he answered, not really sure himself. "I don't know. Believe me, that has _never _happened before."

More tears spilled over her cheeks. "What was _supposed _to happen?" She choked, her lip quivering.

"It's a long story, I don't..." How could he begin to explain? "The Doctor never told you about regeneration?"

Sighing, she shook her head. "There were a lot of things he never told me." She said sadly. "I don't think I ever really meant that much to him."

"Hey," he whispered, cupping her chin with his hand and bringing her eyes, her beautiful eyes, up to meet his, "You mean so much to him. He wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you Donna, you know that." She gave him a small smile, and he continued. "Well, when the Doctor - or any time lord for that matter - dies, he has a sort of way of cheating death. He changes his face, his whole body, he becomes a new man. Regeneration, It's called. When I met him, he looked completely different. It was Daleks who caused him to regenerate that time, too."

Donna looked confused. "But... you said he changed his face, his body." She pointed a finger at the Doctor, "But he hasn't changed, that's my Doctor, the same one."

Captain Jack scratched his head. "I know," he admitted, "I don't know what having Rose there did to him. What it did to her, because that was no normal regeneration. Believe me." At a loss for words, he sighed. "At this point, Donna, your guess is as good as mine. All we can do is wait until they wake up."

xx

Donna nodded. This was a lot to take in all at once. And it sure didn't help that the Captain was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen, his face kept distracting her as she tried to process his words. She was just getting her head round regeneration when Jack cried out.

"Donna!" He yelled suddenly, and she jumped, "The Daleks! They're still out there, they know where the TARDIS is now!" He looked frantically at the Doctor, willing him to wake up, but he didn't stir. "What are we gonna do?" He asked her, terrified.

"Well..." She began, "I can fly the TARDIS back into the vortex, they won't find us there."

"You know how to fly her?" he asked in disbelief. "Oho, Donna, you angel!" He dashed forward and kissed her, jubilant, on the lips, just for a second, before darting over to the console.

It was all Donna needed to get going. Joining him, she began by flipping all of the switches into various positions, desperately casting her mind back to her flying lesson with the Doctor a few months before. She turned the ball in the socket until the it was exactly in line with the lever, then she looked up at Jack.

"Here we go!" She said, managing a smile, reminding herself scarily of the Doctor. She pulled down hard on the lever and they were off.


	3. Not Now, Jack

**Okay, I know I said I'd keep it as different to the show as possible, but the finale was so amazing and it gave me so many ideas that my story will go along with RTD's plot (although obviously a bit AU because of how I finished the last chapter) until the end of Journey's End, but then it'll continue with my own story. Did you understand that? Because I confused myself there, what i meant was- Oh, shut up Tyler!**

**Just read it and you'll find out. Keep the reviews coming, I love hearing what you think.**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Three- Not Now, Jack

The two of them concentrated on working the controls, so were silent, but every now and then Donna and Jack would glance up at one another and share a smile.

At one point she looked up to see him with his brow furrowed, studying the screen. Cor, he was sexy when he was confused. Donna, unable to look away from him, lost concentration and her hand slipped, sending the dial she was turning too far clockwise.

The TARDIS jerked suddenly, so they had to cling to the console to avoid being thrown to the ground. A blush crept over her face as she righted her mistake.

"Sorry!" She said, wincing. "I just er.. got cramp in my hand for a sec." _How pathetic did that sound?! _She berated herself silently.

xx

Jack tried his best not to smile.

"No worries." He forced out, although his voice wavered slightly with suppressed laughter, "Happens to the best of us."

He ducked his head down below the console , pretending to look at the wires so that she wouldn't catch him grinning like an idiot.

xx

Donna, aware that she had gone a shade of red which would clash horribly with her hair, searched wildly for something to say. She was spared the embarrassment, however, when she sensed a movement behind her.

She and Jack both whirled to face the Doctor, the smiles wiped instantly off their faces as he sat up, holding his head. Donna was by his side in an instant, crouching beside him and helping to support him. _Thank God, _was all she could think.

"Doctor!" She cried in relief, "You alright?"

His eyes took a moment to focus on her face. "Yeah, I just... what happened? The Dalek... I started to regener- oh my god!" It all came back to him, and he brought his hands to his face frantically. Running a hand through his hair and looking down at himself, his face showed utter confusion.

"Did I change?" He demanded, "What do I look like? Although... I feel-"

"The same." Donna finished for him. "Because you are. You didn't change, Rose was there. She..." Here she paused uncomfortably. He didn't show any signs that he remembered the kiss, was it her place to bring it up?

"...She held your hand the whole time." Donna finished. She saw the confused Captain open his mouth to say something, but she shot him a meaningful look that said_ not now, Jack_, and he abruptly shut it again.

"Right..." the Doctor said, clearly still trying to get his head round this. "Rose..." His voice faded. "ROSE!" He jumped up in sudden recognition and darted over to the unconscious blonde.

"Is she alright?" he asked frantically, checking her pulse and then scanning her body with his sonic screwdriver, "Tell me exactly wat happened, Donna. Every little detail."

Donna sighed. It looked like she was going to have to tell him.


	4. You're In Trouble

**Thanks so much to everyone who left me the reviews! One comment was to try and keep it different, so I'm gonna explain my plans for this story. It will go on until the end of journey's end, without differing too much from the show's plot. Then comes the main part of the story, in which i am making up what happens. Call it my Doctor Who series five if you like, this is the finale rerun on BBC3 before the new series starts on Saturdays.**

**Right then! Enough chat! Allons-y, as the man himself would say! Oh, he's lovely isn't he... (slaps self to end Tennant-filled daydream).**

Chapter Four- You're In Trouble

"Well, you turned around and saw her, I assume that bit you remember from the look on your face as you were running down the street. Before what I'm sure would have been a lovely reunion that flippin' dustbin on roller skates appeared and shot ya. Jack appeared, blasted the thing to bits, we carried you in here, and you started to recallibrate or whatever it's called, until Rose... stopped you." Donna hadn't known how to finish her sentence.

The Doctor looked up from examining Rose to look confusedly at Donna. "What d'you mean, she stopped me, what's that supposed to mean?"

Donna rolled her eyes. "Oh, for God's sake, Doctor, she kissed you!"

xx

The Doctor felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. Hard. She'd _kissed _him? While he was regenerating? What would that do to her?

"Hello?" Came Donna's voice from what seemed like a great distance but was in fact just a few metres away next to Jack. _Very_ close to Jack, in fact. The Doctor had no time to find this odd, however, because he felt a stir behind him.

He whipped around, fast as lightning, to see Rose's eyes flicker open. Immediately he was holding her hand, helping her pull herself oh so gently into a sitting position. Her eyes were dazed for a moment, before they managed to focus on him. As soon as they did, she beamed.

"'Ello." She said quietly, letting out a laugh.

"Hello to you too." he replied softly, grinning.

xx

Donna opened her mouth to speak, but Jack placed a hand on her arm. She turned to see him shake his head ever so slightly, silently urging her to keep quiet, let that moment belong to the Doctor and Rose. She gave him a small smile. How was it that they had been introduced so recently, but could already tell what the other one was thinking?

xx

Jack couldn't bring himself to let go of Donna's arm, even after she had shut her mouth. He left it there, just resting. In any other situation this would have been awkward, but for some reason, with Donna, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Like they just fit, completed each other. A fool would call it love...

_Don't be ridiculous, _Jack told himself, _You only met her a few hours ago, what are you thinking?_

Although he couldn't help but think: _With time..._

xx

The Doctor could have stayed there for hours, just staring into Rose's eyes, but a voice in his head pulled him back to reality. Strangely, that voice sounded a lot like Donna Noble. He would never tell her that, of course, or he would get one hell of a wallop. He could here her now: _Is that what I am to you, a bloomin' conscience...?_

He smirked to himself, then suddenly leapt up.

"Right!" he cried, clapping his hands together, "Shall we be off?"

xx

Rose blinked. "Where?" She asked, a little annoyed that he wanted to get back to work so soon. Personally, she would have been happy to sit there on the floor all day and just look at him.

xx

Clearly, that was what Donna and Jack had in mind too. They were miles away, the pair of them, just staring into each other's eyes, oblivious to their surroundings_. Definitely something going on there, _thought the Doctor.

"Where?" he repeated disbelievingly, "Are you forgetting something, Rose? The Daleks? The Darkness, the war? I think the place we wanna be is on board the Crucible, whatever that turns out to be.

xx

Rose giggled, the leaned up to whisper something in his ear.

"I'm not the one who's forgotten, mate." She nudged him in the direction of Donna and the Captain. He smirked. Oh, how she had missed this, he and his Rose having a laugh, sharing a joke, messing about in the TARDIS. It was like she'd never been away.

"Oi, lovebirds!" She called, "Snap out of it! Small matter of a universe to be saved here!"

xx

Donna and Jack both spun to face the Doctor and Rose.

Jack cleared his throat, a little ashamed to have been so absorbed in Donna's eyes.

"Of course!" He yelled, and darted forward to the console. "The Crucible! Fantastic!"

xx

The Doctor shared one last knowing smile with Rose before joining the Captain at the controls. Donna came forward to help, too, but Rose stood back, a little embarrased that she didn't actually know how to work this thing.

xx

He flipped a few switches. Jack held down several buttons at once. Donna rushed around to the other side, and tapped furiously at the screen. The Doctor turned dials, whilst holding down a lever with his foot.

"Oi!" He called, over the airy noise of the TARDIS' engines, "Who's messed with the biostep defunctionsliser?"

Donna looked up form the switch she was repeatedly whacking with a mallet. "Sorry!" she called guiltily, "My 'and slipped when I was getting us into the vortex earlier. Had other things on my mind, you know!"

"Yeah. Course you did," The Doctor replied, clearing his throat and glancing meaningfully at Jack.

"I did actually!" She cried indignantly, "Like, I dunno, tryin' to get us off Dalek infested streets while you and you're girlfriend took a little power nap!"

Rose came forward, taking the lever so that the Doctor could drop his foot.

"You're in trouble now, Mister," She muttered, and he grinned.

xx

"3...2...1... That's it!" Jack cried as the TARDIS stopped.

"Great!" Cried the Doctor, and grabbed Rose's hand. "Allons-y!"

"'Ang on a minute!" Rose stopped him, "We're just gonna go wanderin' out onto a ship full o' Daleks? Without any weapons?"

"Weapons?" the Doctor asked, looking disgusted, "Rose Tyler, what did they do to you? We'll be fine. The power of words! That's all we need. Come on!"

xx

Jack looked at Donna as the Doctor and Rose headed for the door. She was staring into the air over his shoulder, a dazed look on her face.

"Donna?" He asked. He must have sounded worried, because the Doctor and Rose turned around, looking at him quizzically. "Donna!" He said again, this time more forcefully, and she snapped right out of it. She looked at Jack for a moment as though he were a stranger, then it all came back to her.

"I'm sorry," Jack told her quietly, "There's nothing else we can do."

She nodded with a small smile. "No... I know."

Jack smiled at her attempt at a brave face. Leaning down, he kissed her lightly before turning toward the doors.

xx

"You know, there really is a time and a place." the Doctor joked as Jack and Donna reached him. Jack didn't return the smile. Maybe he had grown up more than the Doctor had thought.

They were pulled from the following awkward silence by the faint, crackly voice which came from outside the TARDIS.

"SURRENDER, DOCTOR, AND FACE YOUR DALEK MASTERS."

The Doctor felt a shiver run down his spine as he heard their voices again, the voices that always survived, no matter how much he lost.

"Right then." he said, breathing out heavily. "Let's do this."

And with that, he exited his ship, Rose right behind him, to the cry of: "DALEKS REIGN SUPREME! ALL HAIL THE DALEKS!"

xx

Jack winked reassuringly at the terrified looking Donna before following Rose. He stepped out of the police box to see Daleks everywhere, a horrible sight. He turned to make sure Donna wasn't too scared, when the TARDIS door slammed in his face.

Panicking, he leapt towards it, grabbing the handle and pushing with all his might. But the door wouldn't budge.

"Oi!" came Donna's petrified yet still defensive voice, "Doctor?! What 'ave you done? Jack! Jack, I'm not stayin' behind!"

"DONNA!" Jack cried, and the Doctor joined him, pushing as hard as he could at the doors. Still they didn't open.

"What did you do?" Jack screamed, turning to the red Dalek that was up on a pedestal in front of them. "What the hell did you do?! Let her out!"

"THIS IS NOT OF DALEK ORIGIN." Came the reply.

"Doctor!" came her voice from inside, sounding so desperate it broke Jack's heart. "Jack!"

"I'm here, Donna!" he yelled, pounding on the doors to no avail. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, but it didn't work either.

xx

"Doesn't work on wood, remember, Dumbo!" She yelled, slapping her palms against the door. "Now let me out!"

Her heart was beating at at least twice its normal speed, almost as if there were two in there, fighting to get out.

She heard the Captain practically beating down the door, she heard the Doctor, as usual trying to reason with the Dalek. Ohhh, she was gonna kill him.

She heard the Dalek say that the TARDIS would be destroyed, and then she heard the crashing and grinding around her as it fell. Grabbing a hold of the console to keep herself from being thrown to the floor, she closed her eyes and prayed.

xx

"NEVERTHELESS, THE TARDIS IS A WEAPON, AND IT WILL BE DESTROYED!" The supreme Dalek stated, and Jack's heart froze.

"DONNA!" He yelled one more time, but it was no use. The floor suddenly opened, sending the TARDIS and Donna Noble toppling to their doom.


	5. So Many Lives

**Hi! I was off on holiday for a couple of days, so this one took a bit longer. I was in Paris, so had an excuse to actually use the expression "Allons-y"! And I did. A lot. Really started to annoy everyone in my group, actually, but never mind.**

**Anyway, back to the story! I know the middle part of the episode is not covered, but Donna and Jack aren't together during those parts. Just assume everything happens the same as Journey's End for the bits not in here. **

**Keep the reviews coming, I love 'em! Donna xxx**

Chapter Five- So Many Lives

"DONNA!" Jack screamed as the TARDIS fell, as if by shouting he could stop this from happening. Ironically, a tactic that Donna herself was very fond of.

"What are you doing?!" The Doctor yelled, turning to the red Dalek, "Bring it back!"

"It?!" Jack demanded, unable to believe the Doctor was more concerned about his ship than his companion, "What d'you mean, _it? _Her!"

"I know, Jack, I know!" He said impatiently, then to the Dalek: "What've you done, where's it going?!"

xx

The TARDIS lurched violently, and Donna clung desperately to the railing beside the ramp. "Jack!" She screeched, "Doctor!" but of course shouting didn't stop her from falling. The light bulbs began to smash around her and fires erupted left, right and centre. Gasping, tears running down her face from the smoke and sheer panic, Donna dashed to the console and crouched down, shielding her head.

xx

"LET HER GO!" Jack demanded, striding toward the Dalek. "NOW!"

"Jack-" Rose began, and put a hand on his arm. He shook it off impatiently. Like hell was he gonna let her die.

"THE FEMALE AND THE TARDIS WILL PERISH TOGETHER." said the Dalek, still not a trace of emotion in its robotic voice.

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?!" Jack continued, his voice raw with emotion, "BRING HER BACK!"

"Jack, please!" Sobbed Rose, and pulled him into a hug. He clung tightly to her, a tear spilling over his cheek too.

"But Donna..." he cried helplessly, unable to put into words how he was feeling. For someone he had only known for a few hours, it felt like his soul had been ripped in two. He turned to see the Doctor, staring up at a screen which showed the TARDIS being engulfed in a great ball of fire, a panicked look on his face.

"Please... I'm begging you, I'll do anything!" Jack cried, "Put me in her place! You can do anything to me, I don't care, just get her out of there!" He knew he could survive anything, but the same could not be said for Donna. She could die. Quite easily, and there was nothing Jack could do about it.

xx

"YOU ARE CONNECTED TO THE TARDIS," Said the Dalek in what Rose could have sworn was a sneer, "NOW FEEL IT DIE!" She stepped away from Jack, and slid her hand into the Doctor's, seeing how distressed he was.

xx

Oh, Jack knew how the Doctor felt. Just as he was connected to the TARDIS, Jack felt connected to Donna. He felt her pain inside him, her burning and dying just like the ship. He imagined her, alone and terrified in the control room, wondering what she had done to deserve being left behind.

She must think it was he and the Doctor's fault, and for Jack it was too much to bear. Her last moments, thinking that she wasn't good enough, that she hadn't been allowed to come with them. But she was, for all she put herself down, an amazing woman, and Jack hated the fact that he would never have the chance to tell her that. That she would die thinking she was worthless, when she was actually the most special woman in the universe.

"Please," Jack sobbed, looking up at the supreme Dalek, "Save her! For once in your cold hearted little life, show some compassion! How can you not feel for her, alone in there, and scared!" He was getting angry now. His eyes widened as he stared at the creature with utter hatred, "Do you enjoy this?! Do you like knowing that you've wrecked so many lives and taken so many others away completely?"

He stormed towards the Dalek, seething. "Not getting it?" He screamed, his voice hoarse now, "Still not one tiny bit sorry? Well, if you can't feel that, feel this!"

His eyes burning with passion, he pulled out a handgun, and fired repeatedly at the Dalek. It didn't move, and the bullets merely bounced off its metal casing. The Captain couldn't remember ever feeling this furious.

"EXTERMINATE!" It screeched, and then Jack felt nothing more.

xx

Sobbing, Donna looked around frantically for something she could do. The only thing that caught her eye was the hand in its jar just a few feet away from her. The Doctor's hand. Mesmorized, she reached out to touch it, and it began to glow. As her hand finally made contact with his, the jar smashed, and the golden light engulfed her too.

* * *

Jack knelt, his hands behind his head, having lost all hope. The TARDIS was gone. Donna was gone. Pretty soon the Earth would be gone too, Gwen, Ianto. Tosh and Owen were already long gone. Yet he had to live on. He could not die, could not go like the rest of them. He couldn't stand to lose any more, when he knew he could never be lost.

Then suddenly came hope. Hope in the light, airy sound that could be heard over Davros' manic laughter. The most beautiful sound in the universe. The sound of the TARDIS' engines.

He jumped to his feet as the Daleks all faced the materializing police box. That innocent blue box that meant so much. A thought came to Jack. If the TARDIS was here, so was Donna.

xx

"Readay-ah!" Cried the Doctor, grinning at Donna. He kicked a lever down with his foot, the strange device they had just constucted in his hands. "Maximum power!"

She didn't even try to contain her smile. It was going to work! They were going to defeat the Daleks, she was going to do something extraordinary for the first time in her life. They were going back, back to the Crucible, back to the Doctor... back to Jack.

xx

"But that's..." the Doctor murmured, a look of total confusion on his face. Jack allowed a smile to creep over his face as the TARDIS solidified.

"Impossible!" Said Davros, as shocked as the rest of them, as the doors opened. Out stepped not Donna, but the Doctor. Jack's expression turned to one of surprise. The Doctor. Actually the same Doctor, albeit in a blue suit. "Brilliant!" he breathed. How was this possible?

The new Doctor bounded out of the TARDIS toward Davros. "DON'T!" Cried the trapped Doctor, but the other took no notice, continuing to dash towards the Dalek emporer, a strange device in his hands. before he could ude it, however, Davros emitted a stream of lightning from his finger, and the Doctor collapsed.

Davros activated a holding cell, and everyone's hopes were dashed once more. That is, until a shining new beacon of hope appeared at the TARDIS door. The most breathtaking figure the Captain had ever seen. It was Donna, not destroyed at the centre of the Crucible but very much alive, and with a look of steely determination on her face.


	6. A Little Dose

**This is really hard to write! Because I'm watching the episode and writing along with it, all the while trying to include the characters' thoughts and feelings and adapt it to fit my story! I keep having to pause and rewind when I don't pick up what they say exactly- especially when Donna's talking at lightning speed! I did my best, don't get mad...**

**Enjoy! I know it's a bit short but never mind! More for next time!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Six- A Little Dose

Donna stood in the doorway, for a second just eyeing the strange scene in front of her. A decrepit form sat in a sort of Dalek wheelchair. For some reason the Doctor and Rose were just standing there, not moving. On the floor were Sarah Jane Smith, Martha Jones, and a man and a woman Donna didn't know. Then she saw him. Captain Jack Harkness, staring at her with a huge smile on his face. She could have looked at him for ever.

But there was no time. She heard a gasp, and turned just in time to see a stream of light bursting from Davros' finger. The Doctor dropped their device and fell to the floor with a thud.

Davros hadn't noticed her - this was her chance. She darted forward and grabbed the device, realising too late she didn't really know what it was.

"I've got it!" She yelled, then, looking pleadingly at both Doctors and Jack: "But... I dunno what to do!"

She hadn't been fast enough. Davros, looking bored, shot a second stream of lightning at her, and she was thrown backwards. Donna hit the console and blacked out.

xx

Jack's smile faded. Fast. "Donna? You alright Donna?!" He yelled, filled with fear.

Davros yelled: "Destroy the weapon!" And blew it to pieces. _Great, _Jack thought, _Our last hope gone. _Noticing that everyone was watching Davros, he took his chance. He discretely darted over to the console where Donna had landed. He dashed behind it, to see her still slumped on the floor. Crouching down, he took her hand.

"Donna?" he whispered, his voice almost breaking. "Donna, wake up. You have to wake up." This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be dead, she had only just come back. "Donna?" he shook her a little harder now, and her eyes fluttered open. He let out a quiet laugh of relief.

"You're okay!" He sighed, smiling.

"Oh yes!" She whispered. "Right as rain, never felt better. Ooh. That's weird - I sound like him." She scrunched up her nose. "I _feel _like him. Although, a bit more attractive of course." She winked at Jack, who was shocked.

"I can't believe you're okay!" he whispered, relief flooding his body.

"Oh, Captain, you think I'd let a little dose of manually compressed magnetically charged high power electrical energy that's been harnessed in a biofunctional transmitter kill me? No chance, not with my biology!" Donna grinned triumphantly.

"What?" Now he was the one that sounded like the Doctor. "How're you- ?"

"Shall we deal with that a bit later?" She interrupted. "Let's sort out these Daleksfirst, eh?" She stood up, only to crouch back down a second later. "Although," She said, biting her lip conspiratorially, "There is one thing I need to do first."

Before Jack could even ask, she had seized his head and kissed him passionately. She pulled away, a gleam in her eye. "Now then." She said, unfazed. "How about that reality bomb?" With that, she stood up and began to flip switches and turn dials on the controls, leaving Jack, unable to think or breathe, on the floor.


	7. At Her Fingertips

**I'm really sorry if this is getting boring for people cause its just like the show, but I'm nearly at the end of the finale! Keep at it, then the real story can start! Sorry my chapters aren't that long, but I have to write little and often because I'm so busy. **

**Thanks to everyone who continues to review, thanks especially to Laura Harkness for pointing me in the direction of a good transcript site (even if it took hours and hours to get in contact with each other due to annoying PMs!), its really helped me with the technobabble etc.**

**Enjoy the chapter! ****Donna xxx**

Chapter Seven- At Her Fingertips

The Doctor was panicking. Really. Never before had he been in a situation where there was absolutely nothing he could do. Nothing. He watched and listened in horror as the supreme Dalek counted down the seconds. "6...5...4..." He closed his eyes, not wanting to see. "3...2...1..." The screen cut out.

The Doctor blinked. What the hell? He looked around him in confusion as an alarm began to sound. The suddenly he whirled around to see Donna, alive and looking confident, standing behind the controls.

"Oooh..." She said cockily, "Closing all Z-Neutrino relay loops using an internalised synchronous back-feed reversal loop!" She grinned, and flipped one more switch like she'd been doing it all her life. "That button there!"

The Daleks around them began to panic. "EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN! EXPLAAIN!" Shrieked the Supreme Dalek. The Doctor ignored him. Completely bemused, he turned to Donna.

"Donna, you can't even change a plug!" This was one of the things he loved about Donna Noble, the way she'd just keep on shocking you, no matter how well you thought you knew her.

xx

Donna, elated, winked at the Doctor. "D'you wanna bet, Time Boy?" She asked gleefully. It was amazing, this feeling, being completely in control. Being able to do whatever she wanted. Nothing could stop Donna Noble.

Including, evidently, a grumpy Dalek creator. "You will suffer for this!" Davros yelled, pointing a finger at her.

At any other time in her life, Donna would have panicked. Screamed, and shielded her face. But not here. Not now, with a Time Lord's knowledge at her fingertips. Literally. She knew exactly what to do as she casually flipped a few switches.

She cocked her head, loving the look on the Doctors' faces. "Oooh... Bioelectric dampening field with a retrogressive arc inversion."

xx

Jack shook his head to clear his mind. What was he doing, sitting on the floor whilst there was an army of Daleks to be defeated? He jumped up, entirely focused, just as Davros shouted furiously: "Exterminate her!"

A Dalek acted immediately on his command, rolling threateningly toward Donna. As if Jack was going to let that happen. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" It shrieked, and the Captain leapt in front of it, blocking Donna from harm's way. He threw his hands up to his face, and closed his eyes ready for the ray. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" And then... nothing. He dropped his hands, looking up at the Dalek in confusion.

"WEAPONS NON-FUNCTIONAL," It declared, and the gobsmacked Jack turned to Donna. She grinned at him.

"Very heroic of you, Captain, but all it needed was a little macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix!"

"Oh, how silly of me!" He joked, "I do beg your pardon, ma'am!"

"No need to apologise. Although you can get your arse over here and help me, action man!"

"Was that you commenting on my outfit?" He asked, acting hurt as he bounded over to help her with the controls.

She winked at him. "Always."

xx

The Doctor was down right confused. His other self was smiling knowingly as Donna turned to them, looking as though Christmas had come early. "But how did you work that out? You're-"

"Time Lord." The Doctor in blue interrupted him, "Part Time Lord,"

"Part human!" Donna finished triumphantly. "Oh yes! That was a two way biological metacrisis! Half Doctor...Half Donna!"

The Doctor was hit with sudden realisation. "The DoctorDonna..." He breathed, "Just like the Ood said, remember? They saw it coming! The DoctorDonna!" He had wondered why the Ood had phrased it so strangely, now he knew. It was a prophecy, not unlike the one Dalek Caan himself had made.

xx

Donna nodded. Had the Doctor only just figured that out? Bless him, he was only a Time Lord. She remembered the mission, and hurriedly pressed a few more buttons. "Holding cells deactivated! And seal the vault!" She continued, loving being the one in control, the one everybody was in awe of. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, don't just stand there, you skinny boys in suits - get to work!"


	8. Of Course Not

**Okay, reeeally long chapter here. In case anyone gets confused, a few scenes are skipped, but again, they happen the same as the finale. Journey's End's nearly over now, so just hold on a bit longer! Donna xxx**

Chapter Eight- Of Course Not

Jack grinned as both Doctors ran to join Donna at the control panel.

"Stop them! Get them away from the controls!" Davros screeched, obviously panicking. A Dalek rolled towards them menacingly, but by then they were all far from scared of the pepper pots.

Donna flipped a few switches, then winked at Jack. He loved how confident she was now, far from the girl who thought she was worth nothing. He was so glad that she had learnt just how special she was.

"Aaaand spin!" She said gleefully, twisting a dial. She and Jack burst out laughing as the Daleks began to spin on the spot. She threw her arms around him joyously, and he hugged her back tightly, still chuckling.

"What did you do?" The Doctor in blue asked, baffled. Donna rolled her eyes at Jack.

"Trip-stitch circuit-breaker in the psycho-kinetic threshold manipulator. It's not hard."

"But...that's brilliant!" Cried the Doctor.

"That's Donna!" Jack cried, squeezing her hand. It was amazing how in the midst of a battle, their team could still be joking around and having a laugh as they saved the universe.

xx

"Why did we never think of that?" The Doctor asked his other self, marvelling at Donna's brilliance. He could get used to this, having a companion who was just as clever as him. That had never happened before.

"Because you two... were just Time Lords- You dumbos." Donna chattered, quite clearly loving insulting them. "Lacking that little bit of Human, that gut instinct that goes hand-in-hand with planet Earth. I could think of ideas that you two couldn't dream of in a million years! The universe has been waiting for me! Now... let's send that trip-stitch all over the ship."

"Didn't bring Chiswick's best temp for nothing!" said the Doctor gleefully. This was actually going to work!

"Oh yes!" Donna cried, "Hundred words a minute!"

"Ha!" Yelled the other Doctor. The original felt a bit queasy. Having a bit of himself in Donna would be alright, but it was downright _weird _to have another actual him.

xx

"Ready?" Donna held her breath. God, this had better work. What could she possibly do if it didn't? "And reverse!"

She and the two Doctors pulled back two levers each. It was working. The three of them could feel it.

"Off you go Clom!" Yelled one Doctor.

"Back home, Adipose three!" Cried the other. The Time Lord in Donna was saying: _It's just a simple metacrisis, perfectly logical. _But her Human part still thought it was spooky to have two of the same person, no matter how much science had to do with it.

"Shallacatop! Pyrovilia! And The Lost Moon of Poosh. Ha!" She kicked one lever and pulled another. How had she found this so confusing before? Controlling complicated devices came easily to her now, and she prayed she would never have to go back. In fact, she didn't think she would be able to stand it.

"Ha!" The new Doctor echoed. _Naah, _Donna thought, _I'll never have to go back to being the thick secretary. Not after all I've done. Never ever._

* * *

Rose was confused. Completely and utterly lost. What had happened to Donna? What were they doing at the controls? More importantly, how the hell were there two Doctors? As she had when the other three had been flying the TARDIS, she felt a little left out.

"Anyone gonna tell me what's going on?" She asked, looking to the Doctor for an answer. But it was Donna who began to talk.

"When his hand," She gestured to the original Doctor, "Got cut off two years ago, it was bursting with regeneration energy. That's how it's been preserved, in it's little jar. I touched the hand, he grew out of that," She pointed to the Doctor in blue, "But that fed back into me. But, it just stayed dormant in my head 'til the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life." She smirked. "Thank you Davros!"

She looked between the two Doctors proudly. "Part Human... part Time Lord. And I got the best bit of the Doctor." Here, the new Doctor raised his eyebrows slightly. Rose marvelled at how exactly the same they were. If it weren't for the suits, she really wouldn't be able to tell which was which.

"I got his mind." Donna finished triumphantly.

* * *

Donna walked around the TARDIS console, grinning as the six pilots worked. She was so proud of them, and so proud of herself for being part of such an amazing team. She absent-mindedly adjusted a control for Rose. Had she really, once upon a time, thought this machine was complicated?

She helped everyone, then finally came up behind the Captain. For a moment she paused, just taking him in. He was concentrating hard, and didn't notice her watching him.

Donna didn't know what it was about Jack, but they just seemed to fit. It was unbelievable to think that they had only met a few hours ago, when it felt like she'd known him her entire life. Was it possible to fall in love in such a short amount of time? If anyone had asked Donna before now, she would have said of course not. But now, after meeting Captain Jack Harkness? Anything was possible.

xx

Jack felt Donna slide in beside him. He turned to her and grinned as she studied his handiwork.

"That's really good Jack!" She said. Normally he would have found this patronizing, but when it was Donna he didn't mind so much. "I think you might be the best." She smiled flirtatiously.

"Oh, you wanna see what else I can do?" He joined in, "This is nothing, hell, _the Doctor _can fly this thing."

"Ooh." She gave a mock shudder. "Did you 'ave to bring that geek into it? I was in quite a romantic mood until he got mentioned!"

"Well," He smiled at her slyly, "I'm sure we can get you back in that mood without too many problems..."

He was so absorbed his hand slipped from the lever he had been instructed to keep level. The whole ship jolted suddenly, and everyone had to cling on to the console to avoid being flung across the room.

"Who the hell was that?!" The Doctor cried, grabbing Rose's arm so she wouldn't fall over, "What happened then?"

Jack opened his mouth, but Donna whacked him silently on the arm. Trying not to draw any attention to herself, she calmly took over his controls, righting their mistake before the Doctor figured out where it originated.

"Oh..." He said, leaving go of Rose, "Never mind, we're back on course."

Jack took over the lever again, averting his eyes away from Donna. He knew that if they made eye contact, he would burst out laughing, and now really wasn't the time.

**Please leave me some more reviews people, I love hearing what you think! Donna xxx**


	9. Unique

**Sorry about the shortness of this chapter. I was going to include the next scene in here as well, but it seemed much more effective to end it here. I'll update soon anyway. ****I love this chapter, it's very Doctor Donna friendshippy.**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Nine- Unique

Donna avoided making eye contact with Jack, knowing that if she did she would burst out laughing. She twisted a knob on his portion of the controls, and cleared her throat.

"Hem. Like I said, Captain, good erm... good work." She suppressed her grin and walked off to help the others. After adjusting Martha's lever she leaned against one of the TARDIS' beams. She folded her arms and surveyed the group of people who in the last twenty four hours had become her closest friends. She felt so privileged to be a part of that, so grateful to them all_. One in particular..._

She was brought back to Earth (well, spaceship) when the Doctor in blue came to stand beside her. He leant against the pillar as well, and for a moment they just stood, watching their team work and enjoying each other's company.

"Amazing, aren't they." He said quietly, obviously deep in thought.

"I know," She answered.

"Extraordinary, that when normal people get together like this they can do anything in the universe. Anything. That's what I love about humans."

She nudged him playfully in the direction of Rose. "I know which one you're thinking about. I can tell. Don't forget, Doctor, I can tell what you're thinking."

"Ha!" He scoffed, "You can talk, Mrs Harkness!_ I_ can tell what _you're _thinking too, Donna, that was a two-way metacrisis, don't you forget."

She grinned. He'd got her. "What are we like? Flippin' mind readers. Two of a kind."

"Yup," He said, popping the 'p'. "Unique. There's no one like us!"

They stood in silence for awhile, thinking. So the other could hear, obviously. Donna knew what he had to do.

She smiled, but sadly now. "I'm really gonna miss you." She said quietly.

"Me too." He replied, swallowing. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "I wouldn't exist if it weren't for you, Donna, wouldn't be able to offer this to Rose. You know that, right?"

She waved a hand, throwing off his comment. But he wasn't having it. He took a hold of her shoulders gently. "Look at me, Donna."

She obeyed. "You are special. So special. _Infinitely _special. In fact, I'd go as far to say you're the most special woman in the whole-"

"Doctor!" He was getting carried away. That was one ability she'd had from the very beginning: to reprimand the Doctor.

"Right. Sorry. I just need you to know that, Donna. You aren't worthless. You never have been, all your life you've been incredible. The most ordinary woman, saving the universe and millions of others. What you've done for the world, for _me_..." His voice cracked. He couldn't, didn't need to go on.

A tear spilled over her cheek as she threw her arms around him. What he'd said meant so much. Perhaps that was it. All she'd needed, all her life, was someone to tell her she mattered.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she hugged him tightly. Her best friend in the whole wide universe. Her other half. Before him, she'd been just Donna the temp, instantly forgettable. Yet here she was, fighting monsters, saving worlds. She was the DoctorDonna, and she only had him to thank.

**You like? I tried really hard not to make it romantic (which is hard 'cos I love them as a couple), but I needed to get across how much they mean to each other. Tell me your opinions, please, I love it. Donna xxx**


	10. One Last Trip

**Uber-long chapter for you here people! The last one was painfully short so I owe it to you.**

**Also can I just say, I've never seen Torchwood, so I didn't know there was anything romantic going on between Jack and Ianto. In my story, there isn't. Has never been, or this would be a bit weird. It's already pretty AU, so I'm sure you can get your little heads around it.**

**Enjoy, loyal readers, and please keep reviewing! **

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Ten- One Last Trip

The TARDIS stopped moving. Donna pulled back from the new Doctor and looked around frantically. What was going on?

Desperately, she looked back to the Doctor to see that he was grinning. She sighed in relief. It was okay! They'd done it! As her friends began to whoop and cheer, she let out a laugh.

Grinning, she threw her arms around the Doctor again, loving the feeling that she had just saved the universe.

xx

Jack let go of his lever and laughed triumphantly. It was over! Everyone was safe! It was pandemonium in the control room, everyone was laughing, cheering, hugging each other ecstatically. Jack hurriedly embraced Jackie and Sarah Jane, wanting to get them out of the way quickly. There was only one person he wanted in his arms.

He scanned the room to see her hugging the Doctor in blue. Extracting himself from Martha's embrace, he darted over and pulled the Doctor off of her. She beamed up at him, and his smile was just as big as he took her in his arms and kissed her, jubilant, on the lips.

xx

Donna responded eagerly as Jack deepened the kiss, needing to be close to him. This was like nothing she had experienced before. Yes, she had kissed plenty of men in her lifetime, but none of them had been this intense, this perfect. It was like coming home, like this was where she'd been heading all her pointless little life.

To Donna, there was no-one else in the room. This was bliss.

xx

The Doctor looked around at his companions, all so happy. And so they should be, having just saved the entirety of creation and everything.

He felt a warm hand slide into his, and looked down to see Rose smiling up at him. He could see in her eyes how pleased she was to be back in the TARDIS having adventures, and he hated the fact that he was going to take all that away from her.

She squeezed his hand, and looking like she was trying not to laugh, flicked her eyes meaningfully to the Doctor's right. He turned to see Donna and Jack kissing, looking like they'd completely forgotten anyone else existed.

"Oi!" The Doctor yelled, and they pulled apart to glare at him, "What the hell was that?"

Donna looked livid, then suddenly she smiled innocently. "Oh, did I not tell you?" She said breezily, "I'm possessed by the last pure human in the universe."

"Actually," Jack joined in, "I was just taking all the power of the time vortex out of Donna here." _Alright, alright,_ the Doctor thought, _you've made your point._

"What's the matter, Doctor?" Martha called, giggling, "Never seen a simple genetic transfer before?"

"S'nothing," Donna said, "Jack just needed a shock 'cos his drink's been spiked with cyanide-"

"OKAY!"The Doctor yelled. "I'm sorry!" He heard a splutter beside him and turned just as Rose burst out laughing.

* * *

Sarah dashed off into the distance, and the Doctor turned wearily back to the TARDIS. _The biggest family on Earth, _she'd said. Well, all that was about to change.

He poked his head inside the door. "Martha!" He called, and she turned around from where she was talking to Mickey, "London! This is your stop too, right?"

She gave everyone a little wave before darting down the ramp and out the door. "So." He said, and she grinned.

"You keep that mobile." She said, giving him a quick hug.

She started to walk off, but he called after her: "And Martha, get rid of that Osterhagen thing, eh?"

"Done!" She replied, before walking off.

The Doctor heard a creak behind him, and Mickey emerged from the TARDIS. "Oi!" He asked, "Where _you_ going?"

"Well, I'm not stupid." He said, "I can work out what happens next. And hey, I had a good time in that parallel world but... my Gran passed away. Nice and peaceful. Spent her last years living in a mansion. There's nothing there for me now." He looked a little sad, "Certainly not Rose."

"What will you do?" the Doctor asked.

"Anything!" Mickey replied, then looked a little sheepish. "Something..." He glanced after Martha, who, the Doctor noticed, was walking awfully slowly. _Bless, _he thought.

"See ya boss!" Mickey winked, then hurriedly ran to catch up with Martha. The Doctor watched her turn and beam as she noticed Mickey approaching. She held out her hand, and sure enough, he took it.

_There's another two paired off, _the Doctor thought sadly as he went back inside. Looking around, he saw that Donna and Jack were side by side as they had been since they'd left the crucible. And, surely enough, Rose and the other Doctor were talking about something or other, looking pretty close.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. At least she would be happy with the him when he left her behind. At least she accepted the fact that the other Doctor was just the same as hers.

"Doctor?" Donna asked softly, looking concerned, "You alright?"

He forced the smile back on to his face. "'Course!" He cried, a little too enthusiastically, "Cardiff, then!"

xx

The Doctor started to set the co-ordinates at the controls. Donna gave Jack a meaningful look before stepping forward on the premise of helping him. She began to pull levers and push buttons, working on autopilot.

"Doctor..." She started gently. _How was she going to tell him?_

"I 'ave to tell you something." This was hard. "I, erm... I think I'm gonna..."

"Go with Jack." He finished for her. He gave her a small smile over the screen, "Back to Cardiff. I know." She didn't know what to say.

"Are you alright?" She asked quietly.

"'Course I am! I'm happy for you! It's brilliant! Fantastic! I-"

"Doctor."

He sighed. "I'm gonna miss you." He admitted.

"Well, obviously!" She joked, before getting back to the point. "What I meant was... You're gonna be..."

"Alone." Again, he finished her sentence for her. She loved telepathy. "I know."

"I'm sorry..." Her eyes filled with tears. "It's just... I have to do this. All my life, I've been lookin' for the right person to be with, and It's been one disaster after another. Until now." She swallowed, "Until Jack."

He nodded, smiling. "I know. And believe me Donna, you deserve it. Really, I'm so happy for you."

They'd arrived. The Doctor looked at her expectantly, but suddenly a thought came to Donna. "One minute," She said, and turned to Jack.

xx

Jack stepped forward, grinning. They'd already agreed that Donna was going to join him at Torchwood, and he was thrilled. She turned to him, looking a little sad.

"You okay?" He asked her, concerned. She nodded, then took both his hands and pulled him aside.

"I'm fine. Listen." She took a deep breath. "I'm gonna go with him." Jack's heart literally stopped beating. She wanted to leave? Go with the Doctor?

"But... I thought we were..." He choked, not wanting to sound too pathetic. She looked at him confusedly, then something clicked in her head.

"Oh, god, no!" She said, looking alarmed, "Just for this trip! Oh, no, I'm coming to Cardiff with you for sure!" He sighed in relief. _Thank god._

"I just think he needs someone there," She continued, "When he leaves Rose with him." She jerked her head in the direction of the other Doctor. "It's gonna be the hardest thing for him, and I know he can't do it alone."

Jack nodded. He knew she was right, the Doctor needed her.

"So." He said, "I'll go back to Torchwood. It's probably a good thing, gives me a chance to tell the others about you. They're gonna be really excited, Ianto and Gwen. You're just what we need, after..."

He paused. He couldn't bring up Owen and Tosh, not right now. Couldn't explain it all to Donna so quickly. He owed it to their memories to tell her every detail at length. "I'll tell you later." He finished. "When we've a little more time."

"Oh, believe me," She said, smiling, "We'll have all the time in the universe. Just you wait until I get back."

"Meet you at Torchwood?"

"At Torchwood."

Jack headed towards the door.

"Doctor!" He called, and gave him a little salute, "I want her safe!" The Doctor grinned, and Jack winked at Donna before stepping out onto the oh-so-familiar ground of Cardiff city centre.

xx

The door closed, and the Doctor turned back to the controls. Donna came and stood beside him, giving his shoulder a quick squeeze. He turned to Jackie, Rose and the other Doctor and took a deep breath. He could do this. He had to.

"Right then!" He said, trying and probably failing to sound cheerful. "There's just time for one last trip! Dårlig Ulv Stranden. Better known as..."


	11. Back To Cardiff

**Can I just say, I wept buckets when writing this chapter. Actual proper, huge fat tears, not just a little trickle. Am I gonna tell you why? Like hell I am. Read on!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Eleven- Back To Cardiff

"But... It's still not right." Rose pleaded, "Because The Doctor's... still you!" She couldn't believe he was doing this to her. Did he not know how hard she had worked to return to him?

"And I'm him." He said sadly, looking across to the new Doctor. She needed to know if it was true, if the two of them really were the same person at heart. Well, heart_s _in some cases.

"Alright then." She said harshly, "Both of you, answer me this." The two of them came to stand, one on either side of her. She took a deep breath and looked at the Doctor in blue.

"You really have the same memories? Then tell me, when I last stood on this beach, on the _worst _day of my life, what was the last thing you said to me?"

"I said "Rose Tyler"." Said the human Doctor sadly. Rose was a little shocked that he'd known. How could he have?

"Yeah." She said, taken aback, "And... how was that sentence gonna end?" She was looking at the original Doctor now, wanting to hear him say it at last.

He swallowed, clearly distressed. "Does it really need saying?"

"Yes!" She cried, "For God's sake, Doctor, for once, just let me hear you say it!"

xx

Donna could see how much pain the Doctor was in, could feel it herself because of their connection. She hated to see her friend suffer this way, could see how much he was at war with himself. She understood why he didn't want to say those three words, but also knew that if he didn't, he'd regret it for the rest of his life.

_Do it, _she silently urged, and he quite clearly heard. He glanced at Donna, beside himself, as Rose glared expectantly at him.

_I'm here for you, _Donna told him, _just get it over with, Doctor. Please._

His eyes filled up as he heard her thoughts. He took a deep breath as though he had made his choice, but needed to prepare himself. "Rose Tyler." He began, his voice growing in strength, "I... I love you."

xx

Rose gasped. He had actually said it, said those three tiny words that she'd longed to hear practically since the day she'd met him all those years ago. She gave him a small smile, then stepped shakily towards him. She seized the lapels of his brown suit jacket, and pulled him towards her determinedly.

xx

Donna smiled to herself. _Bless him, _she thought, _after all this time, he deserves one kiss before he has to lose her all over again. _

But it never came. For just as their lips were about to meet, the Doctor took ahold of Rose's hands and gently pushed them away.

"No." He choked, and stepped back from her. "I can't, Rose."

Rose looked like she'd been slapped in the face. "But I don't understand," She whispered through her tears, and Donna's heart really went out to the girl. "I l-"

"Don't." The Doctor forced out. "Just... don't." And then the Doctor did what Donna knew was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life. He slowly turned and walked away from Rose Tyler. Walked to his TARDIS without looking back, and closed the doors.

She was shocked, but knew exactly why he had done it. If they had had even that one kiss, he wouldn't have been able to leave her. And they all knew that was what needed to happen.

Rose was running after him, but Donna caught her arm. "Rose, don't." She pleaded, holding tight to the sobbing blonde.

"But... He can't! You can't let him do this to me, Donna, you have to let me back!" She shrieked, struggling so Donna found it hard to keep her grasp. Donna looked helplessly at Jackie and the human Doctor, begging them to help.

It was him who came forward, and put his arms around Rose. At first she continued to struggle, but he held her firmly as she cried.

Donna stepped backwards, needing to get back to her Doctor. "I'm sorry..." She whispered to Rose, "I'm so sorry." And with that, she sprinted across the sand, back to the TARDIS, back to the Doctor.

* * *

Donna closed the doors gently behind her, and took a moment to pull herself together. Her head was aching like crazy, but she put it down to stress. She turned around to see him just standing there, leaning against the console, arms folded, in his ordinary position as if this were an ordinary day. As if none of this was happening.

"Doctor..." She whispered, her eyes full, and he glanced up. His expression remained blank, and she knew he was trying his hardest to hide his feelings. As if he needed to do that. As if he could fool her anyway.

Silently, she walked over and put her arms around him. At first he remained tense, but when she showed no signs of letting go he relaxed. He put his arms around her too, and buried his head in her shoulder. Tears the Doctor had held in for so long finally fell, his emotions finally displayed.

They stood there fo God knows how long, Donna just holding him tightly as he sobbed. Not a word passed between them, not a word needed to, all that mattered was that she was there for him, to support him like she always had and knew she always would.

_Oh, Doctor, _she thought, _We've been through so much together, but some things never change. _It was ironic, really, that when Donna had first appeared on this ship, he had just lost Rose Tyler. They stood together now, three years later, and once again, he had just lost Rose Tyler. Only this time, it really was forever.

* * *

"Right then!" the Doctor said, sounding a little more cheerful. "Back to Cardiff!"

"Right." Donna cleared her throat. "'Course. Brilliant." Her head was pounding properly now, she was finding it incredibly hard to focus on one topic.

"You okay?" He asked her, sounding worried.

"Yeah, 'course!" She gabbled, trying to sound positive. "I'm always alright, particularly right now! Could tell you anything in the universe right now, anythin' you wanna know. How d'ya shut down a Dalek? How d'ya trace the source of a geoseptic wavelength? How d'ya fix the chameleon circuit on a broken TARDIS?"

She was struggling to keep talking now, because she knew what was coming. The sad, knowing look on the Doctor's face said it all, and she couldn't bear it.

"By the way, all you'd have to do would be to hop-bind in the fragment links and superseed the binary..." She couldn't take it anymore. Her head felt like it was on fire, and for the first time in her life, Donna had no control over what was coming out of her mouth.

"Binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary..." She gasped. This was awful. She couldn't let this happen to her, not now, when her happy ending was just about to begin. "I'm fine." She spluttered.

"Oh, Donna..." The Doctor began, but she cut him off. No way was she gonna let him feel sorry for her.

"Tell you what I think you need!" She burbled, "Is a holiday! You should try the planet Felspoon, I've heard that's fantastic! There are mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move, can you imagine! Normally I would suggest Midnight for a bit of a getaway, but that hardly seems appropriate right now, ha ha!"

"Donna, please..." He sounded agitated. But yet again, she cut him off. To let him speak would be to admit this was real, and that wasn't something she was about to do.

"I _am_ gonna miss our adventures, you know, finding a new planet, saving the day. But you know, I've been to Cardiff once, and it's lovely! I'll have a great time, especially since I'm with Jack. Beautiful, Wales. D'you know," She was speaking for the sake of it now, knowing he wasn't really listening. "When I was little, I didn't get that Wales was a country. Seriously, I always thought people were always on about the mammals..."

It was happening again, only now it was a million times worse. She had so much knowledge inside her head that saying a simple word like 'mammals' made her think of a million and one other things she could say, and they all spilled out at once.

"...the mammals, camels, candles, handles, Rimmel, rimming, trimming, strimming, brimming..." She gasped once again and bent over double, sure her skull was about to crack in two.

"Oh, my god..." She whispered, clutching her head.

The Doctor came forward, looking pained. "Do you know what's happening to you?

She sighed. She couldn't keep herself from admitting it any longer. "Yeah." She muttered moodily.

"There's never been a Human-Time Lord metacrisis before now. And you know why." He said in a low, gentle voice.

She sighed. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him. "Because there can't be." Oh god, this couldn't be happening. Quickly, she dropped her gaze from his, and needlessly fiddled with the controls.

"I still want to go," She said defiantly, "To Cardiff."

"Look at me." The Doctor said, his voice wavering. She didn't, knew she would break down if she did. "Donna, look at me." He said, more firmly now. She took a huge breath, and turned to face him.

"This wasn't supposed to happen." She said in a shaky voice. "I was gonna do all these wonderful things. The rest of my life - being _somebody..._ defending the human race. With..._ him_."

The tears spilled over at last when she thought about Jack. Jack, who she loved so much, but who would never know. She'd never get a chance to tell him, because she knew she was about to die. Her life cut short, when she was only just beginning.

Unless...

No.

Oh, no.

No way...

She looked up, and the Doctor's face confirmed what she had suspected.

"No. Oh, my God" She spluttered. More tears came to her eyes, and she stumbled blindly backwards. "I can't go back. Don't make me go back. Doctor... please. Please, don't make me go back." She was desperate, but he quite clearly wasn't listening.

She began to sob as he drew nearer, looking deep into her eyes. "Donna." He murmured, and she could hear the pain in his voice. "Oh, Donna Noble. I am so, so sorry." He paused, one single tear falling over his cheek. "But we had the best of times. The best."

She shook her head slightly. "No." She choked. "You can't. Doctor, please, what about us, what about the DoctorDonna, that can't end! What about Jack, what about everybody? Don't _do _this, _please._"

He placed his fingers to her temples, something she had always found relaxing up until now. He looked devastated as he muttered: "Goodbye."

So many images flashed suddenly before Donna's eyes, all their travels. The Adipose, Pompeii, the Ood, The Sontarans, Messaline, Midnight and so, so many more. It was too much for Donna to bear, for as soon as these memories flashed up, they disappeared altogether.

"NO!" She shreiked, and then her last memory dissapeared, and everything went black.

**Please review, but don't murder me! Please? **

**Oh, forget it. Nearly every single review I've had so far has left two specific instructions: Don't leave Rose, Don't wipe Donna's mind. Uh oh. I'm in trouble.**

**P.S. Sorry if the chapter title got people's hopes up. I was being deliberately misleading, haha!**


	12. Complete With You

**Wow. Wow wow wow. I didn't think you'd hurl _so _many insults at me. I didn't think I'd be in _that _much trouble. And I'm sorry, angry readers, if I upset you all with my last chapter, but just remember that my story continues after series four. Donna and Rose are my absolute favourite companions, would I really leave them like that? I'll say no more, but please, read on...**

**Now, for this chapter, can I just say again, that I've never seen Torchwood, so Gwen and Ianto will probably be horribly OOC. I'm thinking of buying the series one boxset, though, so I should write them a bit better in the future. I did have a look on Wikipedia just to get up to speed though, so I'm not _totally _clueless. As in, I know they had two members who died, and I know that at the end of series one Jack runs off with the Doctor.**

**Right, I'm gonna be off, there's an angry mob after me and they have flaming torches. Oh no wait... That's you. I can see you reading something on your laptop as you run. Later!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Twelve- Complete With You

"Oh, _wait _until you meet her properly," Jack gushed. He had been talking non-stop about this Donna since the second he'd arrived back. He'd just waltzed in, no mention of where he'd been, no re-telling of how they defeated the Daleks. He hadn't even asked them if it would be okay for her to join their team, just assumed they'd go along with it.

Gwen leaned back in her seat. She stretched out her arms and yawned pointedly, but Jack either didn't get the hint or didn't care. She glanced at Ianto, who was sitting beside her and wearing the exact same murderous expression.

"I mean," Jack chattered, "I know you saw her over the camera, but nothing'll prepare you for meeting her in person. She's exactly what we need around here, after losing-"

Gwen snapped.

"Oh, for God's sake, shut up!" She yelled, leaping up from her seat. "Yes, Donna's coming, whoopee! Fantastic, I really am happy for you. But that doesn't erase everything else, Jack. It doesn't make all the terrible things that have happened go away! I can't believe you would _think_,_"_ She ranted, furious, "That you can just replace Tosh and Owen like this, pretend they didn't exist, smooth things over by bringing in a shiny new girl. All that, and you don't even think to consult us? Don't even have the courtesy to _ask?_" I... I..." She had run out of steam, run out of things to hurl at the stunned Captain.

She stormed over to one of the pieces of electrical equipment, and needlessly fiddled with buttons, her head down. There was an all-encompassing silence in the hub, none of them wanting to be the one to break it. Gwen just stood there, not knowing what to do, until finally she felt someone beside her. She looked up to see that it was Jack, his face sorrowful.

"Gwen, I don't know..." He sighed. "I'm sorry. Of course Donna isn't here to replace anybody, I just think she'll be a fantastic addition to an _already_ fantastic team. Honest."

She gave him a small smile. "I know. I just..." She trailed off as Jack's head snapped up. He whirled around, clearly no longer taking in a word she was saying.

"Can you hear that?" he whispered, a huge smile taking over his face. "At least... I think that's... Oh yes!" Gwen listened, and sure enough she could hear the breezy sound too. She remembered that noise for one reason - last time she'd heard it, Jack had abandoned them to go after the Doctor.

She sighed, and turned to face in the same direction as the Captain just in time to see a blue police box appear out of nowhere.

xx

Jack couldn't keep the smile off his face as the TARDIS materialized. This was it! This was really happening!

He held his breath for the inevitable creak, and sure enough, the door opened and out stepped the Doctor. Alone.

"Hey hey, the man himself!" Jack cried, grinning. He failed to notice the look on the Doctor's face as he darted over to the TARDIS. "And, I'm assuming, his lovely companion." The Doctor didn't say anything.

"Waiting for me inside, is she?" Jack asked in the same happy, carefree tone of voice, opening the TARDIS doors.

"Jack... don't." He heard a quiet, serious voice say behind him, but he ignored him. He went inside, up the ramp, and looked around.

"Donna?" He called, but the only voice that replied was his own, echoing around the clearly empty TARDIS.

Deeply confused, and a little uneasy, Jack stepped back out of the ship. The Doctor was leaning against a desk, his head in his hands.

"Jack." He said quietly. "Why don't you sit down?"

"Where is she?" Jack asked, the knot in his stomach being pulled even tighter at the Doctor's expression.

"Jack-"

"Where is she?! If she's hurt, Doctor, I swear to God-"

"She's not hurt. She's absolutely fine, as healthy as she's ever been." His voice didn't sound sad, or angry, or anything at all really. The Doctor was speaking calmly, no expression to his voice at all, and that was what was scaring Jack.

"Then wh-?"

"Donna's at home, Jack. With her family. It's where she needs to be." What? She was at home? Didn't she want him anymore, didn't she... love him?

"I uh... I don't know what to, um..." Oh god, now he couldn't even speak. "Why?" He managed to force out.

The Doctor's expression changed at last, now showing deep sadness. "Think about it, Jack." he said in an almost-whisper. "Have you ever come across a Human-Time Lord metacrisis before?"

Come to think of it, no. Actually, come to think of it, surely the difference in internal brain capacity would... no. Oh, no. She couldn't be.

"But... Is she..." Jack felt sick. He sank down onto the sofa, praying that he wouldn't faint.

"She's not dead. You can at least be grateful for that. No, Donna's... I had to wipe her mind, Jack." The Doctor's voice was wavering, as if he was struggling to keep from breaking down.

"All her travels, our adventures... _you._ They had to go. I'm so sorry."

Jack was stunned, unable to say a word. He felt as though he was about to explode, there was so much emotion inside him. This was worse than her dying. Knowing that she was out there, healthy and most likely happy, yet completely off-limits, was too much to bear.

"Was she..." He choked. He needed to pull himself together. "Did she say anything about..."

"She loved you, Jack. You need to know that. I saw it in her eyes, the first time she caught sight of you on that computer screen. The way they lit up... it was as though she was complete with you. As if she was the person she was always meant to be."

Jack's eyes filled up. Hearing those wonderful words was so hard, because they were so true. Because that was exactly the way Jack felt about Donna.

The Doctor continued, his voice breaking slightly. "You have to believe that, Jack. You have to know. She was so looking forward to seeing you again, so desperate. All she wanted to do was come here to Torchwood, even when she realised that-"

"What?" Jack's head snapped up, a thought entering his head. "What did you say? She still wanted to come here, she wasn't _okay _with you erasing her memories?" The pain inside him was replaced almost entirely with anger.

"Jack, she took on a Time Lord consciousness, she didn't know what she was saying when she asked me not to-"

Again, Jack stopped him. "She even asked you_ not to_?" He asked, disgusted, "She pleaded with you not to do this to her, and you _ignored _her?"

"You don't understand, it was going to kill her! She was going to_ die_! You're telling me that would have been better?!"

"If that's what Donna wanted, then yeah!" Jack yelled.

"Jack, that's not true, and you know it."

Of course he knew it. He knew, deep down, that what he was saying wasn't true. Of course he wouldn't have wanted her to die. But, boy, it was _so _much easier to be furious than it was to be heartbroken.

"I was only doing what I thought was right."

"That's just it, Doctor!" Jack spat, "Story of your life, isn't it. The excuse you use _every _single time you screw something up. Which seems to happen a hell of a lot for someone who claims they only want to do good!" He was being deliberately hurtful now, as if the way to healing himself was to pass on all his misery to someone else. Still, he had started now, and all he couldn't help but to carry on.

"Because that's happened so many times now. Rose. How about that, when you sent her back to Earth to 'keep her safe'. If she hadn't ignored you, the Daleks would have won. Or when you tried to get her to go back to the parallel universe with Pete. She didn't want that! And again, just now! I'll bet you any money she didn't want to stay there with that clone guy, but did that stop you from leaving? Oho Hoh Nooo, because it's what _you thought was best. _You can't make these huge descisions for people, Doctor, because, although you may like to _think_ so, you are no better and no more important than the rest of us. And before you get down off your pedestal and realise that, you and the people around you are _never_ gonna stop getting hurt."

It had all come tumbling out so fast. All of them, himself included, were shocked by the vindictive things that had just escaped his lips. Gwen sat, her hand over her mouth, looking as though she were about to cry. Ianto was next to her, a comforting hand on her arm. Neither of them knew what to say, for neither of them had ever seen this side of Jack before.

"Right then." The Doctor said quietly, his anger replaced by a straight face. "Seems I've caused enough trouble here."

He looked into Jack's eyes for a second before turning away, and to the Captain, seeing so much silent pain was worse than if the Doctor had been shouting at the top of his voice. All he could do was watch as the Doctor walked slowly back to the TARDIS. The doors of the police box closed behind him with a loud bang, and the harsh sound echoed in the silent hub before the TARDIS dematerialised.

Jack stood there, silent, for God knows how long, just staring at the place where the TARDIS had been a moment earlier, before he felt a hand on his arm. He turned. It was Gwen, her face tear streaked, looking terrified.

"Jack, are you..." She started, her voice shaky but gentle.

"I'm fine." He said, trying to muster just an ounce of confidence. He shook her hand off of him, and swept out of the room before either of them noticed the tears now streaming down his cheeks.

Right now, all Jack needed to be alone. Because what the Doctor had said about her earlier applied to him too. So much.

He was complete with her. With Donna Noble, he was the person he was always meant to be. And seeing as she was the one person he could never see again in his life, it was better to have no-one at all.

**End Of Part One**


	13. The Best Place

**Thank you for such lovely positive reviews regarding the last chapter! Have you all forgiven me then (batters eyelashes hopefully)? Anyway, I think I owe it to you to get the next chapter up quickly, so here we go!**

**Also, I've just gone and bought Torchwood series 1. If anyone's remotely interested, there's a sale on in Zavvi and it was only twenty five quid for the boxset! Normally it's like £60. Bit of advertising for you there Zavvi, you can make the cheque out to Miss Donna Tyler. Cos yeah, _everyone _reads this fic.**

**Enjoy, please review! Donna xxx**

**Part Two**

**One year on from Journey's End**

Chapter Thirteen- The Best Place

"Listen, I can't give you the rent right now, I'm telling you I haven't got it!"

"What, so you expect me to cover your share, _again_?"

"There's nothing I can do at the minute! You know I'm looking for a job, It's not my fault the last one-"

"Sacked you? Oh yes, the company who 'Terminated your employment due to extensive absence'. Because going out clothes shopping in the middle of the day is something you _have _to do, something you can't _possibly _control!"

"I don't wanna work for those bastards anyways, they-"

"But you don't want to work for anyone! What is it now, three jobs you've had since I met you? And that was only a few months ago-"

"Well excuse me for not wanting to sit in an office all day while some old pervert bosses me about! You can't blame me for wanting to _do _something with my life-"

"Not think it's getting a bit late for that, sweetheart? You tell me, what the hell have you done so far in your life that is of any importance?"

"It's not my fault that I've never had the opportunity-"

"Oh no, you've had the _opportunity _alright. I'd say you've had several, but you let them pass you by because they're just about to announce who got through to bootcamp on flippin' Any Dream Will Do! If you wanna make something of your life, you're gonna have to get off your arse one of these days and _make things happen_!"

"But I don't think I-"

"Oh, I don't _care_ if you manage or not! I just want you out of here. Now"

"Well, what are you suggesting, I sleep on the street?!"

"All I'm suggesting, no, _insisting, _is that you certainly don't sleep here. Because I can't take this any more, Donna. We're done. Through. That's it."

"But-"

"Out!"

* * *

"I can't believe that's _another _boyfriend finished with, Donna!" Her mother shrieked, "How many's that this year? Three at least!"

"It's not my fault." Donna mumbled, looking at the table rather than meet her Mum's glare.

"And the _job!" _Sylvia ranted, "Don't get me started. How long did that one last, a week? Two? You need to sort yourself out, lady, because if you don't-"

"Alright, Mum!" She said loudly. How many times was she going to have to hear today that she was nobody, completely useless? "I'm no help to anyone, including myself. I get that, okay? I'm going to bed."

"Speaking of which!" Her mother carried on as if she hadn't spoken, "You'd better find somewhere for yourself soon, I was actually thinking about clearing out that room, but couldn't risk it in case you turned up again demanding living space and food and god knows what else..."

Donna had tuned her out by this point, and was dawdling up the stairs to her old room. "And it seems I was right to do so!" Sylvia yelled up the stairs.

"Yeah, right mum, thanks for that!" Donna sighed. Making sure to shut the door firmly in case her mother decided to carry on her scolding from downstairs, she flopped back on the bed. So many thoughts rushed through her head as she stared blankly at the ceiling. _Is there _actually _something wrong with me? Like, clinically? _

It wasn't that Donna wasn't happy with her lot, but sometimes it just felt like she was missing out on something. As if she were seeing one tiny corner of a much bigger picture. She found herself comparing things to something she'd never even had. Her boyfriends all had a certain standard to live up to, even though she had never met anyone up to that standard. All the jobs she'd had seemed dull and restricting - but in comparison to what? What was it that she was missing?

She was pulled from her thoughts when her phone bleeped on her bedside table. Veena.

_Hey babe, heard bout Tony. U fancy cumin out for a cheer up drink? V x_

Donna held down the red button until the mobile switched off. Sighing, she flicked off the lamp, rolled over and shut her eyes. The only time she wasn't being yelled at or berated was in her sleep, so perhaps that was the best place for her.

* * *

Sylvia put her head in her hands. She hadn't meant to be so harsh on her daughter, but it was just so exasperating to see her making nothing out of her life. Perhaps what was bothering her was the fact that she had seen just how much Donna could actually do when she put her mind to it, and now she was back to her old, can't-be-bothered self.

She made her way up the stairs, and was about to go into her own room when she heard a high pitched "Oh!" From her daughter's bedroom. Intrigued, she opened the door just a crack, to find the room in utter darkness. Donna was in bed, eyes closed, clearly asleep but shaking slightly.

"Who are you?" Donna said in a shocked tone of voice, causing Sylvia to jump. "Where am I?"

She stepped quietly so she was by her daughter's side. Donna was still fast asleep, but yelling now. "What the hell is this place?!"

There was a pause, and Sylvia thought perhaps Donna had stopped, but then she gave a command.

"Tell me where I am. I demand you tell me right now - where am I?"

It carried on. Donna was speaking, shouting even, but asleep and completely oblivious.

"The what?"

"The what?"

"That's not even a proper word. You're just saying things."

"Well, obviously, when you kidnapped me! Who was it? Who's paying you? Is it Nerys? Oh, my God, she's finally got me back. This has got Nerys written all over it!"

What the hell was her daughter on about? Extremely unnerved, Sylvia shook her slightly. "Donna?" She whispered fearfully. "Donna, wake up!"

She stopped in the middle of a sentence. "Your best fr-" She sat up, yawning. "Mum?" She mumbled, "You alright?"

Sylvia was gobsmacked. "Yeah, I... Are _you _alright?"

"Besides being woken up for no apparent reason at midnight, I'm absolutely dandy. What was the point in that?" Donna demanded.

"Nothing, I er... it doesn't matter. Sleep well." She gabbled, backing out of the room. Who did Donna think she'd been talking to?

"Well, I was." Her daughter grumbled, lying back down.

Sylvia went to her bedroom, puzzled. It had sounded as though Donna had been having half a conversation - but who was on the other end? Getting into bed, she tried to push the thoughts from her mind_. She's probably just stressed_, she told herself_, maybe I was a little hard on her earlier._

She had almost managed to convince herself, as well, but then she heard an exclamation through the wall. It was Donna, sounding positively gleeful.

"I'm wavin' at fat!"


	14. She Stopped Dead

**Right, I'm on a roll! I now know exactly (well, more or less) where I'm going with this story. I've even got it written down, so there. Which means I'll be able to keep updating every day and won't run out of ideas! I'm not the type of person who starts something and then doesn't finish it, I would feel too bad for leaving the characters in that situation. Hope you enjoy!**

**Donna xxx**

**P.S. I've just realised there hasn't even been a trace of a disclaimer in this story. Whoops! I don't own Doctor Who or any related characters etc. Although, what I wouldn't give to boss around David Tennant all day for a job (Kissing him to death in between each take, obviously)...**

Chapter Fourteen- She Stopped Dead

The next morning, Donna stumbled downstairs in her dressing gown, still half asleep, to find her mother awake and dressed, sitting at the kitchen table.

"Morning!" She said brightly. Donna gave her a confused look. How was it possible for anyone to be so lively this early? For god's sake, it was - she glanced at the clock on the wall - ten thirty. Oh.

"Sleep well?" Sylvia asked, looking a little concerned.

"Um...Yeah," Donna replied, filling up the kettle, "Slept like a baby, actually."

"Have any... dreams or anything?" Donna was even more confused now. Why the hell was her mother asking about her dreams?

"Nooo..." She sat down with her cup of tea, "Why d'you ask?"

"Oh, I dunno, I was just wondering. I hope you're alright, Donna." Okay, this was officially weird. Not only was she being asked about her _dreams, _of all random things, but her mum was actually being somewhat nice to her.

Still, a crazy conversation was better than the angry rants her mother was normally off on.

"I never remember my dreams," She said, "Must be about a year now since I've had a dream I remembered."

"Didn't dream about- Nerys or anyone...?"

"Nerys? What the hell would I be dreaming about Nerys for? That witch never forgave me after that harmless little trick. Why you bringin' her up, of all people?"

xx

Sylvia sighed. She clearly wasn't getting through to her daughter in the slightest.

"No reason. It doesn't matter at all, I must just be tired." She hastily changed the subject, due to the 'She's finally lost it' looks she was getting from her daughter.

"So, what are you're plans for today?"

"Erm... don't really have any." Donna looked a little sad, "Job-hunting, I s'pose." She stood up, draining her cup as she did so. "Better go get ready."

When Donna was safely back upstairs, Sylvia put a hand on her head. _She's probably stressed, _she told herself, _a little sleeptalking isn't _that _uncommon. She'll stop, that was it. Don't give it another thought, it won't happen again._

* * *

But it didn't stop. Oh no, for when Sylvia went up to bed that night she heard more one-sided conversation coming from her daughter's bedroom. She sighed, and paused to listen:

"You wish. I've heard all about you. He talks about you all the time."

"No, no, no. He says nice things. Good things. Nice things. Really good things."

"Didn't take you long to get over it, though. Who's the lucky man?"

"She's engaged, you prawn."

"Is he skinny?" Sylvia blinked. What a random thing to ask! It might have even been funny, if not for what Donna said next.

"He is too skinny for words. You give him a hug, you get a paper cut."

Who was _he? _It was all too strange - Donna, speaking to someone in her dreams. Dreams, incidentally, which she couldn't remember at all. And a mysterious _he_... This wasn't good.

* * *

On and on and on the sleeptalking went, Sylvia getting more and more worried as the nights went on. She was anxious to know who the man Donna kept refferring to was. Because once, although she wouldn't swear by it, she was sure she had heard the word _Doctor. _

And then one night, she heard it for certain. Donna was saying some of the strangest things yet.

"Why would she seal it off? All right, I need to investigate. You just… buttle off."

"1926, they've still got bees." Sylvia shuddered. _1926? _The only time Donna could ever have been in 1926 was when she was with- no. It couldn't be. She opened the door a crack so she could hear a bit clearer.

"Oh, what a noise! All right, busy bee, I'll let you out. Hold on. I shall find you with my amazing powers of detection."

Suddenly she let out an ear-splitting scream, and her mother seriously regretted opening the door.

"That's impossible!" She gasped, although still fast asleep. And then Donna said the thing that confirmed Sylvia's worst fears. Yelled it, actually sounding panicked.

"Doctor! DOCTOR!"

Sylvia stumbled out of the room, closing the door behind her. She ran downstairs, and flopped on the sofa, putting her head in her hands.

"You alright, my darlin'?" Her father asked, looking up from his paper.

"It's Donna..." She managed to say.

"What about her? She seems fine. Little under the weather, maybe, but after what happened with that Tony who can blame her? I never liked that boy-"

"Dad! I'm not talking about that! It's... She's been talking in her sleep lately."

"Well, what's the problem? It's not that uncommon-"

"Yes, but the _things _she's been saying. Dad, she's mentioned..." She leaned forward, and said the next word in a whisper, as if she daren't say it. "The _Doctor._"

Wilfred looked uncomfortable. "Well... that's... odd." He finished, as though he hadn't known what to say.

"But what if she's remembering?" Sylvia didn't understand how her dad wasn't terrified.

"Alright." He cleared his throat, "That wouldn't be good."

"Well of course it wouldn't! On a list of things we want to happen, Donna remembering one tiny thing about that awful man would be at the very-"

"He wasn't." Wilf said quietly.

"Ex_cuse _me?!"

"He wasn't an awful man. You saw what he did for Donna, what _she _did when she was with 'im..."

Sylvia couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're saying you think it's _good _that she might remember? That you don't _care_-"

"Of course I care, sweetheart, I'm just saying... what has Donna done since she came back, eh? Moped around, had a boyfriend or nine, lost all those jobs... You've got to admit she was better with him!"

"Well, maybe you're right, but you heard what he said back in December! She can't ever remember, she _mustn't. _Or she'll die."

Wilf shook his head. "I wouldn't let that happen." He said determinedly. "Never."

* * *

Donna walked along the high street, trying her hardest to look confident. But truth be told, her shoes were killing her, her jacket was too tight and she didn't actually have any place she needed to be.

She sighed. What was the point? She had been looking for a job for weeks now, and had found nothing. And to be honest, it might have had something to do with the fact that she didn't actually want to work in any of the places she'd looked. She'd made an excuse about every single one: too far away from home; the pay's not good enough; the chairs in the office are too uncomfortable etc. etc.

They just all seemed so _boring _in comparison to-

There it was again. That feeling. In comparison to what, she didn't know. She just felt like there was something so much better that she could, no, _should _be doing with her life.

She dawdled now, her attempt at confidence abandoned. As she went she glanced in shop windows, not really taking anything in.

Until, that is, she passed a charity shop with a book display in the window. A flash of yellow and black caught her eye, and she stopped to peer in at the window. She saw that the book she'd noticed was an old Agatha Christie, _Death In The Clouds_. On the cover was a giant wasp, hovering menacingly over an aeroplane.

For some reason, although she couldn't quite put her finger on it, Donna was drawn to that book, to the illustration. Why should that be of any importance to her? She'd never read a murder mystery in her life, they were far too complicated for her liking. Better off with _Cosmo, _she'd always said, but now it was different. Like that book was important to her.

Realising that she'd been staring at the book for almost a full minute now, and the old ladies in the shop were giving her strange looks through the window, she pulled herself together. _Just a book, _she told herself as she carried on walking, trying to regain some composure. But she couldn't help it, things in every direction were now catching her eye and forcing her to stop.

The poster advertising a fortune teller in a shop window. The gothic man with a small, round tattoo on the back of his neck. The young boy in a restaurant, eating spaghetti very, very messily. The guy in black who walked past her speaking into a mobile in a strong American accent. The huge, Star wars-Esque toy guns in the window of Woolworths. The blonde teenager wearing a green t-shirt, with her hair back in a ponytail.

"What the hell you looking at?!" The girl asked as she walked by, looking at Donna as though she were crazy.

_Actually, not a hard mistake to make_, Donna thought_, seeing as I'm standin' here gawpin' at random things and people for no apparent reason. _What was wrong with her? Was she actually going mad? It definitely wasn't lack of sleep, for she'd been getting plenty of that recently. Every night, she'd slept soundly, dreamlessly. Well, certainly no dreams she could remember. Although, she did always feel strangely happy when she woke up...

Nonsense. Donna mentally slapped herself for being such an idiot, and quickened her pace, marching down the street as if she had anywhere to go. She didn't allow herself to look at any more people or objects.

That is, until she turned a corner, where there was a small patch of grass.

She stopped dead in her tracks, unable to move. Because standing before her on that small patch of grass was a big blue box, with the words "Public Call" emblazoned across the top.

**There we go! To show your gratitude, please review. If you do I'll give you... okay, we're online. I'll send you happy thoughts. Not to sound too Phoebe Buffay, but what else can I give you?**


	15. A Big Mistake

**Just watched 'Everything Changes'. My official verdict: Torchwood? Bloody fantastic. ****I laughed so much at Owen, when he sprayed the stuff on himself and the man and woman both started snogging him. And, best line of the show?**

**Jack: Who ordered pizza under the name 'Torchwood'?**

**Owen: That was me. I'm a twat.**

**LOL!! Sorry. Right, I'm off to watch the rest of series one. You may not hear from me for a long, long time... I'm joking. I would never leave it too long to update. Please review!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Fifteen- A Big Mistake

The Doctor closed the doors of the TARDIS behind him, and dawdled over to the console. He twisted a few knobs, flicked a few switches, not really thinking about what he was doing. When the ship was safely in the vortex, he flopped back on to the captain's seat with a sigh.

He could practically feel the TARDIS sigh along with him. She didn't want to be back in the vortex, floating aimlessly through nothing. It was the place she'd been for 90 per cent of the time since the Doctor had left Donna a month ago. She was yearning for adventure, yearning to go somewhere new and exciting in the far reaches of the galaxy, but the Doctor wouldn't allow it.

Since his disastrous meeting with Jack, the last thing the Doctor wanted was adventure. For the first time in his life, he was questioning the point of travelling through time and space, never stopping, never looking back.

What was the point, when there was never a home to go back to, never one person to return to at the end of the day? He himself was living proof, one minute he'd had the biggest family on Earth, the next he had no-one. Absolutely no-one. Nothing but a a machine and the memories of just how much pain he'd caused in countless peoples' lives.

He had left Rose in that world, where quite clearly she didn't want to be. He had inadvertently broken Jack's heart by wiping Donna's mind. And Donna herself of course_. _That was what was really getting to him.

The way he'd left things with her was slowly eating away at him. Firstly, she was still in danger. Of course she was. Removing someone's memories was always a last resort, because once something's happened, it can never truly go away. What if something triggered them? How would he live with that guilt?

But, even more than the physicalities of her departure was the emotions it had brought out in him. The pain of losing a very best friend. The person he could laugh with, talk to about anything. Probably the _only _person who he didn't have any secrets from. Gone.

And so, for the last month, he had done nothing. Let the TARDIS drift in the vortex. Every day he had told himself that today he would go out, have an adventure, save the day and perhaps find a new companion.

But then he would think: he didn't _want _a new companion. Didn't want to have to go through the whole I'm-the-Doctor-what's-your-name-yes-aliens-are-real-in-fact-I-am-one-this-is-my-ship-yes-it's-bigger-on-the-inside-it's-called-the-TARDIS-did-I-mention-it-also-travels-in-time and so on and so forth. He wanted someone who he was comfortable with, who understood him. Who knew about the Time Lords, knew all he had been through and actually cared.

And so, he would find something to busy himself with on the ship, be it a cable that needed repairing or a long-forgotten room that needed tidying. Hell, he was even thinking of fixing the chameleon circuits, just for the sake of something to do. Something that meant he could put off reality for just one more day.

The TARDIS was getting sick of his moping. Today, she had set herself to random of her own accord and deadlocked the controls, as if to say _You'll have adventures whether you like it or not. _Big mistake. He had messed up out on that world, big time.

_If only I'd had someone, _he thought, _If only someone had been there with me. With an extra pair of hands, I'd have got that kinetic extrapolator fixed so much faster. I would have been able to save so many more lives..._

The TARDIS had failed on that particular mission, but wasn't done scheming quite yet. The Doctor, completely engrossed in his own thoughts, looked up in surprise as the lights all around the room suddenly dimmed, including the ones on the console in front of him. That meant one thing - low power.

But that was impossible. He and Donna had stopped off in Cardiff just a week before the Daleks invaded, and his ship didn't need charging _that _often. Unless... Oh, bloody hell. She had drained her own power. He shook his head, furious.

But of course, there was nothing he could do except what the TARDIS wanted. That was the problem with having a living machine: you could be angry at it, want to smash it up, but have no way of letting it know.

"Right," He said angrily, "You've got your way. But you can let _me _set the controls, thank you, none of that deadlock nonsense." He began to set the co-ordinates.

"Can you _believe _the cheek..." His voice faded, and he sighed. For one moment, one ignorant, blissful moment, he had forgotten. Turned around to tell Donna or Rose about his discovery. Turned around to face an empty room.

He hastily got back to work, swallowing down the lump rising in his throat as he thought of them, the two people who meant more to him than anything in the world.

He wasn't going to Cardiff, mind you. The TARDIS had made him go to Earth, but like hell was he going anywhere Jack Harkness. He knew for certain that if he so much as set foot in Wales, Jack would set the Weevils on him.

Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, he fiddled with a few wires underneath the console. If he could harness a hypomagnifying wavelength and transmit it to Cardiff, he would be able to charge the ship from London. He jumped up, having configured the temporal limiter, and flipped a few switches. Wanting to make sure he was forward in time, he turned a dial clockwise.

What he was trying to reach was 2019, a year when he knew absolutely nothing happened on planet Earth, therefore he had no chance of running into any trouble. It would be a quick park, stay for a couple of hours and be off.

However, as the Doctor turned the dial, a control on the other side of the console malfunctioned. Distracted, he darted across to sort that out, completely forgetting the dial which set the year. A big mistake, because currently the TARDIS was set to land in November 2009. Almost exactly a year on from where he had left Donna Noble with no memory of him.

* * *

The Doctor sat in the console room, trying for the third time in his life to read the TARDIS manual.

When he had landed, he had poked his head out to make sure he was in the right place. It was definitely London, and it _looked_ like 2019. No problem. He had located the manual, and extracted it with some difficulty from where it had been propping up two faulty water pipes.

He sat, flicking through the heavy book and remembering why he had given up reading it last time, when he heard the noise level increase outside. Gasps and shouts could be heard, and he leapt up, annoyed that there was trouble but slightly relieved that he could put down the confusing book.

He dashed over, opened the door and stepped outside to see a small crowd gathered just over the road from the patch of grass on which the TARDIS was parked. Intrigued, he crossed the road, listening intently. He caught tiny fragments of various peoples' worried sounding whispers.

"...that woman..."

"She just collapsed..."

"...looked like she was about to be sick..."

"The one with the red hair..." The Doctor whirled around, trying and failing to locate the source of the last whisper. He quickened his pace, and whipped out his psychic paper.

"Out of my way, please, I'm a Doctor!" He said as the crowds cleared, in his most authoritative voice. And it didn't come out too badly, either, considering how worried he was.

_Don't be stupid, _he told himself, _How many redheads are there in the world, of course it's not..._

But his thoughts were silenced; his worst fears confirmed as the throng of people parted and he got a look at the woman lying on the pavement. He dropped to his knees, his head swimming. "No..." Was all he could choke, as he knelt beside the unconscious form of Donna Noble.


	16. Talking Nonsense

**Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I was staying at a friend's. And I left you with such a cliffhanger last time! I always seem to do that, I can't help myself. Yes, I know you all hate me for it, but I don't care. Or in the wise words of Catherine Tate...**

**Am I bovvered?**

**Enjoy the chapter, Donna xxx**

Chapter Sixteen- Talking Nonsense

"Oh, God," The Doctor whispered frantically, because it was really her. Of all the places he could have landed the TARDIS, he had chosen the exact spot where Donna Noble was headed. What had he been thinking, coming to London? He should have been avoiding it at all costs after everything that had happened.

His natural reaction was to break down completely, but the Doctor knew that wasn't an option. He had caused this, now he had to sort it out. He pulled a stethoscope from his pocket and held it to Donna's chest, praying.

His prayers were answered. The heartbeat was going strong. Initially he was thrilled, but then he frowned, for it was _too _strong. Her heart was beating at at least twice the normal speed. Donna wasn't dead. Yet.

He needed to get her out of there, into the TARDIS - but there was a whole crowd of people watching. What would it look like if he just picked up this woman and took her into a metre square police box? Thinking fast, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver. Silently apologising to the owners, whoever they may be, he pressed the button.

Every single window in a huge shop down the street smashed simultaneously. The people anxiously watching the Doctor and Donna were distracted. As they all turned to look at the shop and figure out what had happened, the Doctor took his chance. He pulled Donna into his arms and darted back to his ship before any of them even realised.

* * *

"Where is Donna, anyway?" Wilf asked his daughter. She looked up from the coupons she had been carefully cutting out.

"Job hunting, or so she says," Sylvia replied, "Although she's been doing that for the last week and nothing's come out of-" She was interrupted by an incessant pounding at the front door. Her father got out of his armchair with a grin.

"Those Jehovah's Witnesses get more and more violent as time goes on." He joked as he went into the hall. Sylvia listened intently, wondering who on Earth would be beating down her door in such a way. She heard the door creak open, and Wilfred's gasp. Who the hell was it?

And then she heard one word coming from her father. A terrified, amazed whisper. "Doctor." She was up like a shot and darting into the hallway. Her scissors clattered down onto the table, the 2-for-1 on toilet rolls completely abandoned. It couldn't be him, because that meant... She couldn't bring herself to think about what that meant.

It was. Sure enough, the Doctor was standing in her doorway with a panicked look on his face. The Doctor who she'd hoped never to see again in her life.

xx

"Sylvia" He greeted hurriedly, "Wilfred. It's Donna." There was no point beating about the bush. Their expressions turned to terror as obvious as his.

"Wh-" Her grandfather choked, and the Doctor's heart went out to the man. "Has she..."

"I don't know," He tried to keep his voice steady and confident. "I just came out of the TARDIS and she was there, unconscious. She's still that way now, inside. I don't know how or if she's remembered anything. That's what I came to ask you."

"Get out." Said Donna's mother, her eyes on fire. "Don't you think you've caused enough trouble around here, now leave my daughter alone and get the hell out of this house." Oh, he'd forgotten how difficult mothers could be. "You wreck my Donna's life, then make her forget all of it, then just come swanning in here-"

"If you don't listen to me, your daughter is going to die." He said simply. That shut her up, although her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry, you don't know how sorry I am, but that's the truth. Now I need you to help me, Sylvia, can you do that?"

Unable to speak another word, she gave a small nod. He gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "Now, can you tell me, has Donna shown any signs of remembering lately? Anything at all, a strange reaction to certain sights, words, anything?"

"The dreams," She forced out, one tear falling over her cheek. "She's been talking in her sleep, like she's having half a conversation. She's mentioned... _you._" Oh god.

"Has Donna said anything to you about the dreams?" If she'd remembered before, why hadn't she burnt up sooner?

Sylvia took a deep breath. "She can't remember them, not when she's awake. She doesn't know what I'm talking about when I ask her. It's crazy, Doctor, she's talking nonsense. All this stuff about waving at fat, some girl called Martha, another called Ginny or Jenny or something... just last night she was talking about bees, or wasps or something, then she started screaming..."

The Doctor had heard enough. "Gotta go!" he called over his shoulder, already halfway out the door. He needed to get back to Donna now, because if this was true then she needed treating. Urgently.

"DOCTOR!" He heard her mother scream behind him. "YOU GET BACK HERE! LET ME SEE HER, LET ME SEE MY DAUGHTER!"

Wilfred took her arm to restain her. "Doctor!" He called from the front door, in a much gentler voice than Sylvia, who was desperately trying to pull out of his grasp. The Doctor, having reached the TARDIS, turned around. "Just let me know... Is Donna going to die?"

The Doctor didn't, _couldn't _say anything. He shot Wilf a meaningful look, then went inside. Closing the double doors, he leaned against the railing for a moment, head in his hands, to gather his thoughts. He took one deep breath, then dashed over to Donna, who was still unconscious. He picked her up again and carried her to the medical bay, laying her oh so gently on to a bed. He felt her heartbeat again - it had sped up even more.

He carefully brushed her fiery hair out of her eyes. _Oh, Donna, _he thought desperately, _If you die, it will have been all my fault. _How would he live with himself after this? Because there really was nothing he could do. If she had remembered, the knowledge would kill her for sure. Unless...

A thought hit the Doctor, his head snapped up, and a proper smile broke on his face for the first time in a month.

**And yes, I know, that's another cliffy. Seriously though.**

**Look at my face. Does it look bovvered?**

**Sorry about that. I just bought _The Catherine Tate Show _DVD. The woman is a genius.**


	17. Hard To forget

**My computer broke! AAAAARGH! I haven't been able to get on the internet for two whole days! ****It was killing me, I didn't get to read any of my reviews until just now. Thank you to those who did! You all seem to agree that cliffhangers are bad, but I just can't help putting them in. Is there one at the end of _this _chapter, I hear you ask? I won't say, but I will tell you that there is one hell of a huge shock. Read on to find out the meaning of Donna's mindless burbling... **

**Okay I really will stop now. Enjoy!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Seventeen- Hard To Forget

The Doctor was thinking hard. Very hard. Maybe not using his_ full_ brain power because he was so_ very_ clever, but it was still working harder than it had done in a long time, particularly after a month of doing nothing.

The reason he was thinking so hard? There was a small chance that he had found a way save Donna Noble. In fact, what he was thinking about was a sentence Donna herself had uttered, on board the Dalek crucible:

"...that fed back into me. But, it just stayed dormant in my head 'til the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life."

Donna had been referring to the Time Lord knowledge, but that was also what had happened with her memories. When the Doctor had tried to erase them completely, he had merely sent them right to the back of her mind. They were there, but in her subconscious. With little things around her reminding her of him, the memories were getting that little extra spark, and had started to come out in her dreams.

That was bad. Very bad, because if she was remembering in her dreams, she was so much closer to remembering when she was conscious. More and more things would have caught her eye, objects, people who could possibly make her remember. That was what had happened - Donna had been getting closer and closer to remembering him, and seeing the TARDIS had acted like a trigger. The memories had been kicked into life - and she was burning up.

But_, _there was some good news, the Doctor thought. Because if those memories had been lying dormant in Donna's head, maybe he could force the Time lord Consciousness to do the same. If he could revert her to the state she'd been in before Davros had electrocuted her, there was a chance she might be just fine.

And he had to try. He had to, or he would never be able to forgive himself.

Decided on what he had to do, he turned to look at Donna. She was still unconscious, although shaking slightly on the bed. He held a gentle hand to her forehead to find it was boiling hot. There wasn't much time.

Seeing her so vulnerable when she was usually such a strong, loud, _alive _character was killing him. Praying that this would work, not knowing what he would do otherwise, the Doctor took a seat next to her. Though he felt like curling up and not accepting any of this, he had to stay strong. He tried to clear his mind so that he would be able to focus entirely on the task at hand.

Donna had started to whimper slightly. Evidently she was in pain, but the Doctor tried his very hardest to ignore that fact. Taking a deep breath, he placed his fingers to her burning hot temples, and concentrated on opening her mind into his.

* * *

After a long while, the Doctor opened his eyes. He withdrew his hands, satisfied that he had done all he could. Praying with all his might that it had worked, he waited for Donna to show some movement, some sign that it had worked or it hadn't.

She began to shake harder, and the Doctor, panicked, took her hand. _Please, _was all he could think, _Please, Donna, I need you to get through this. _And sure enough, Donna stopped. She muttered something indistinguishable, gave a huge yawn and rolled over so she was facing away from him.

He almost laughed out loud in relief as her breathing settled into a steady rhythm. He gently placed a hand on her chest to find that her heart had slowed way down so it was almost at the normal speed.

She was fast asleep, and as far as the Doctor knew, perfectly fine, with her memories returned and all that Time Lord knowledge tucked safely away at the very back of her mind. Giving her hand one last squeeze, he slipped out of the med bay and back to the control room.

xx

For a long time, Donna felt nothing except pain. All encompassing pain greater than she had ever experienced before, as if her head were on fire and about to split in two at any moment.

But then, the pain reduced slightly, and she remembered. She remembered everything, the Doctor, the TARDIS, her travels, her friends... Jack. Oh god, Jack. The memory of him was what she was sure was reducing the pain even more, and she wondered how she had ever allowed herself to forget him. And then that returned too. That one particular memory: the Doctor wiping her mind. The happiness she felt at remembering was instantly replaced by rage, anger at what he did to her. She only wished she could wake up so she could give him a piece of her mind. How DARE he do that to her when she had asked him not to? It was completely unacceptable.

But then... maybe it wasn't so unacceptable. Sure, it was okay to do that to a friend when they were in danger. In fact... _what _was it she had thought was unacceptable? Nothing had happened.

Because the memories were slipping away as quickly as they had returned. And it felt fine. The pain disappeared entirely, and Donna felt perfectly happy. Rolling over in her sleep, she knew that everything was fine. Everything had been fine for a long, long time.

* * *

The Doctor tried to repair a part of the console, but found it completely impossible to concentrate. He flopped back on the captain's chair, unable to stand waiting a minute longer. Perhaps he could go and wake her up? No, he told himself, let her get as much sleep as she needs to recover from this.

He tapped out a pointless beat on the edge of the console. He twiddled his fingers. He ran his hands through his hair. At one point he even stood up, ready to go and get her. _Stop it, _he thought, _How _human_ is it to be unable to stand waiting for an hour or two? _

But then, just when he was really unable to take it a moment longer, he heard footsteps. He leapt up, and turned to face the door just as Donna appeared through it, looking perfectly fine.

"Mornin'!" She said cheerfully, "Did you-" But she was unable to finishe her sentence, the Doctor having ran forward and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. He laughed in relief, full of joy at the fact she was here, alive, and knew exactly who he was.

"Donna!" He cried when he pulled away at last, "You're-"

"Bloody breathless!" She finished for him. "Jesus, Doctor, what was that for?"

"But you... you can remember?" He said in disbelief. He had expected her to be mad at him for wiping her mind, but she seemed perfectly happy and calm.

"Remember what?" She asked, giving him a strange look. She went and perched on the edge of the console.

"Well... everything. All our travels, _me, _everything."

"You? Of course I can remember you, spaceman, how could I forget?"

"But... You can remember everything we've done... everyone we've met?" Why wasn't she asking about Jack, if she could remember it all, why wasn't she bringing up the fact that he'd taken away her memories?

"Yeeeah... Kinda hard to forget Agatha Christie, Doctor. Although," She gave a little laugh, "She certainly won't remember _us_! It did feel a bit mean, though, taking her memories away like that. Seems a bit harsh to do that to anyone, to be honest, a bit unfair. Still, had to be done."

She hopped down, and smiled at him. "Can I ask, what was that room I was sleeping in? Dunno why I would go to bed in there, it certainly wasn't my room. I've never been in there before, there's a lot of this place I've never been in." She was chattering away, being very typically Donna, as the Doctor got more and more confused. Why was she so focused on Agatha Christie? And surely, if she was on the subject of memory wiping, she should have brought up her own?

"So! Where are we headed today, then? Now, 1926 is all very well, but how about another alien place this time? I do love those aliens, you learn so much from-"

"Donna," He interrupted, unable to contain his question any longer. "Do you remember a girl called Rose Tyler?"

"Well, you've mentioned 'er enough!" She gave him a slightly worried look. "You've told me all about her, but of course I've never met her because of the whole parallel universe thing." Oh.

"And... Martha Jones?"

"Yeees, Doctor, Martha helped us defeat the Sontarans. She came with us to Messaline, do you remember?" She replied very slowly, as if he were the one acting strangely. There was just one more thing he had to ask.

"Donna... You do remember Captain Jack Harkness, don't you?" Where Martha and Rose had struck at least _some _chord with Donna, her face now remained blank.

"Captain _who_?"

**Again, please, I want pitchforks and torches put down before reviewing.**


	18. Deadlocked

**I've just been to see _The Dark Knight. _I would seriously reccomend it, it's completely twisted and mental, but awesome. Utterly awesome. Heath Ledger is fantastic, bless him, such a shame.**

**Anyway, moving on to the story, you people really like that Rose, doncha? I've had loads of reviews asking what happened to her, all I'll say is be patient, you have not seen the last of her. Right now I'm just concentrating on getting Donna all sorted. Enjoy the chapter, please keep reviewing!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Eighteen- Deadlocked

The Doctor felt like he'd been slapped in the face. How could she not remember Jack? Donna had fallen for the Captain hard and fast, and he had been sure she'd remember him if not anything else.

"Donna, you're telling me you've never met a man called Captain Jack?"

"Captain Jack?" She scoffed, "What, as in, Sparrow? Now I know time travelling can be a bit overwhelming for you, Doctor, but you have to learn the difference between real people and fiction. Unless... Is Pirates of the Caribbean real? Oh, Nerys is gonna be chuffed, she fancies the pants off Johnny Depp in that costume..."

"What?" He asked, shaking his head. This was too much. "No, listen to me Donna, Captain Jack _Harkness_. Works for Torchwood?" Her face didn't show any sort of recognition. What had he done wrong? He thought back to what he had done to her mind. He had forced the Time lord knowledge back into her subconscious, that had worked fine...

"Doctor? You alright there?" She asked, sounding a little concerned now. "I think you need to get some sleep, mister, you're talkin' more nonsense than usual! What with your "Do you remember Martha"s and your imaginary Captains..."

"Donna, give me a second, I just need to think!" He tried to tune out her rambling as he concentrated hard on what could have happened. He'd returned her memories...

"Now, I know you say Time Lords don't need to sleep, but sometimes I think you just wanna sound impressive. It won't kill you to take forty winks, you..."

"Oh!" He cried, and she jumped back in shock. Had he figured it out? He had returned her memories, but only the ones she'd recovered! Before she'd seen the TARDIS, the memories had been returning to her in her dreams, one by one. And if she hadn't dreamt them all yet...

"Donna, how did you get to bed last night?" She looked at him as though he were mad.

"Is it too obvious to say I... _went... _to bed?"

"Right. But, before that. What did we do yesterday?"

"Doctor, have you completely lost your-?"

"Donna! What did we do?"

"We went to 1926, you muppet! Did you accidentally wipe your _own _memories when you were trying to do Agatha's or somethin'?" Of course. the last dream she'd had. Sylvia had said it: "Just last night she was talking about bees, or wasps or something..." Donna hadn't reached Midnight, or the carnival, or Rose or Jack or any of it yet. As far as she knew, they had only just defeated the Vespiform.

Suddenly he felt Donna's hand on his. "Doctor?" She asked quietly, and he looked up to see that she was staring at him with a concerned look in her eye. "Are you alright? Tell me, what's happening?"

He was torn. Should he tell her, if she was perfectly happy like this? Would she even believe him if he did? And besides, what would it do to her? She would be perfectly safe in this state, there was no chance of anything happening - he couldn't risk messing with her mind even more and her losing it all again. He would never be able to forgive himself if something happened to her that he could have prevented. No, it was far better to leave it, be thankful to have his Donna back and leave it at that.

"I'm fine, Donna, honestly." He replied, forcing a smile onto his face. "Everything's brilliant!" With that, he dashed over to the console and hastily flipped a few switches, pressed a few buttons. Donna's face broke into a grin, and she ran over to join him at the controls, her concerns forgotten entirely at the prospect of a new location.

"So," He smiled for real. Everything was fine! Donna was back, his best friend by his side once more and ready for adventure. "Where d'you wanna go?"

* * *

Was it going to be that simple? Of course not. The Doctor had set the controls to random (after he and Donna agreed it was much more fun that way - God, he had missed her), but the TARDIS had her own ideas.

"We could be anywhere in the universe," He said gleefully when they had landed, dashing over to a railing and pulling on his long brown coat, "At any point in t-"

"Yes, we know that bit!" Donna laughed, and headed straight out the door. The Doctor made to follow her, but then the door opened again and she poked her head back in, looking cross.

"What's wrong?" He asked, startled,"Where are we?"

"_Earth,_" She said, disgusted. "There's a woman with a Tesco's bag just walked past, how adventurous is that?"

"What?" He asked in confusion. "Where?" Of all the planets, why had the TARDIS chosen the one they'd just left?

"I dunno!" She replied, "But there's a bloody great fountain behind me, come and 'ave a look." The Doctor froze. It couldn't be. He ran down the ramp and out the door to see that she was right. They were standing in front of a huge silver structure with water running down it, which towered over them almost menacingly.

"What?!" Was all he could cry.

"Doctor, what is it? Where are we?"

"Cardiff," He said quietly, "We're in Cardiff."

Donna wrinkled her nose, "What, as in _Wales_?" She sounded just as disgusted as him. The Doctor couldn't help but give a small smile. To anyone else, they would sound so snobby, like big city folks wanting a weekend in Milan. He nodded gravely, knowing why the TARDIS had brought them there. She wanted him to tell Jack, but like hell was he going to. He could forsee how that conversation would go, and it would most likely end in regeneration for him.

Unless, of course, he had a handy Rose Tyler to halt the regeneration, to absorb all of the leftover energy. A thought came to the Doctor as he thought of Rose. Is that what she had done, absorbed the energy? He hadn't given it much thought, he had been busy with the Daleks, but surely that would have...

Never mind. There was no time for that now. What mattered was that he showed his machine she didn't have complete control over his actions.

"Doesn't matter," He said cheerfully, hands in his pockets, "We'll just go back inside and go somewhere el-" He couldn't finish his sentence. His hand had been halfway to the door handle when he heard a _click, _and he knew all too well what that meant. "No!" He cried, but it was too late. He and Donna pushed with all their might, but the TARDIS had locked herself. He tried his key, but it wouldn't fit in the lock. The Doctor even tried sonic-ing it, but it was deadlocked.

"Doesn't work on wood, remember, Dumbo!" Donna grinned. The Doctor smiled too, but a little sadly. She had uttered that sentence before, on board the crucible. Only she'd never remember it.

He whacked his hand against the panelling one last time, frustrated that his ship had got the better of him again. Last time, she had almost killed Donna, albeit inavertantly. Who knew what she could do this time?

The Doctor shook his hand furiously. "Did that hurt?" Donna asked in an amused tone of voice.

"Yes."

"Did that help?"

"Yes."

"Suuure it did, sweetheart, you keep telling yourself that." Donna spluttered. The Doctor gave her what was meant to be a withering stare, but her face set him off too and he began to laugh. He had forgotten how much _fun _Donna was to be around, even in the worst of situations. And right now, this was pretty much the worst situation he could think of.

"So," She asked when they had both recovered, "What do we do?"

The Doctor gave a huge sigh, all traces of laughter instantly wiped from his face. "There's only one thing we can do," He admitted, "Exactly what the TARDIS wanted in the first place."

"That being..."

"We're going to see Captain Jack."


	19. Jack Changed

**Okay, it's official. I am** **Miss Thick Thick Thicketty Thickface from Thicktown, Thickania. And so's my Dad. Because yes, you're all right, Donna didn't find out about the sonic screwdriver not working on wood until Silence In the Library. And no, that wasn't me slipping in some hint for the master plan of this fic, I'm just really dumb. But I have a plan. My story's really AU anyway, so can we all imagine that the Doctor told Donna it doesn't work on wood during an earlier episode and we just didn't see it. That okay? Hope I haven't fried your brains too much, enjoy the chapter and please review!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Nineteen- Jack Changed

Gwen knocked tentatively on the door of Jack's office, and entered when she heard a dull "Yeah?" from within. Her smile dropped as she walked in to see the Captain sitting at his desk, surrounded by papers, looking tired. His hair was messy, but not in a good way, more in a what's-the-point-in-making-an-effort sort of way.

She sighed, and shifted a few papers aside to put down the steaming cup she was carrying.

"I er... I brought you some coffee." She said awkwardly. He looked up briefly, and in the split second of eye contact they shared Gwen saw so much sadness.

"Thanks." He muttered distractedly, his eyes now firmly back on the paperwork he was doing. Gwen didn't know what to do. Jack had been acting like this since the Doctor's visit all those months ago, and she and Ianto didn't have a clue how to snap him out of it. Whenever either of them tried to engage in conversation with him, Jack would barely speak and just mumble that he had work to do.

"Jack," She began, trying to keep her voice firm but still kind, "How long is this gonna go on for, eh?" _Please, god, let him say something and not just bat me away, _she thought desperately. No such luck.

"I don't know what you're talking about," He said in the monotonous voice that was standard for him now, "Now, if you don't mind, I really gotta get this done..." He kept on working, assuming she would just go. But this time, it wasn't going to happen. Gwen sighed, and seated herself on the edge of the desk.

"Actually, Jack," She said, a little more forcefully this time, "I think you do know. I think you know exactly what I mean. When are you gonna sort yourself out?" He looked up properly this time, his face a little hurt. She took a deep breath.

"When are we gonna get our Jack back?" She asked gently, giving him a tiny smile. "We need you, you must know that. I need you, Ianto does. It's so different around here now than how it used to be, back when..." Her voice shook slightly. This was the most she'd got Jack to listen. "It's so dull, so businesslike. We don't know how to act around you any more, Jack, and we all used to be a team. We used to laugh, and joke around together, have _fun _at work as well as-"

"Is that what this is about, Gwen?" He interrupted, his voice raised slightly. _Well, at least that was more than a muttered excuse, _Gwen thought, _anger is better than no emotion at all._

"This is about you not having a good time? This is about you being _bored_?" There was what sounded like hatred in his voice now, and Gwen couldn't stand it. She was trying to make this better, not turn him against her.

"No! No no no, Jack, I didn't mean it that way, it's just that we all used to be so good together. We were such a close knit family, and it's all fallen apart! What happened?" Her eyes were shining with tears. What had she said wrong?

"Everything changed." He said simply, in a way that made Gwen's heart break a little.

"It didn't have to." She said quietly, her voice wavering madly, "We could have helped you Jack, you didn't have to shut yourself out. It could have made us stronger, but it's torn us apart. I know Donna was special to you, but-" Big mistake.

"DON'T!" Jack yelled suddenly, his face murderous. Looking as though he had surprised himself slightly, he put his head in his hands. "Just... don't." he muttered, so quietly Gwen barely heard it. It didn't matter anyway. She had heard enough. Shaking slightly, she walked over to the door, pausing just before she exited. She turned to face him, her face sorrowful.

"We're here for you, Jack." She said quietly, "Me and Ianto, we've always been here for you, we will always want to help. I thought the same could be said for you about us, but now... well. Now I'm not so sure anymore." And with that, she swept out of the room, back to the main hub. She leaned back against a desk, her hand over her mouth. It had needed to be said, but it still felt awful. She just stared into nothingness for a while, overwhelmed by the conversation she'd just had, before she felt a hand on her arm. She blinked into focus to see that it was Ianto, looking at her concernedly.

"You alright?" He asked quietly, "What happened?"

"I talked to Jack." She admitted, her lip quivering. He nodded, understanding immediately what that simple sentence had meant.

"And..." He trailed off, as if he dare not ask how it had gone. Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but it was too much. It had been too long since she'd shown her true emotions, too long she'd put on a brave face for the sake of keeping this team together by a tiny thread. Her eyes, full to the brim, finally spilled over, and she was unable to utter a word.

Ianto pulled her into his arms, sighing as she sobbed against his chest. "When did this happen, Ianto?" She choked, "When did we lose him?"

He swallowed. "It was the minute he saw her. It was in his eyes, you noticed it too. The second he layed eyes on Donna. Jack changed." He replied quietly, holding her tightly. There was silence for a while, as both of them processed this, realised just how much it was true.

Just how much she had mesmorised him, just how much Jack had changed. There was only one word to use to describe it when one person had such an effect on another. And that word was Love.

* * *

Perhaps it was better this way, the Doctor thought. Jack really did deserve to know that Donna was safe. He seemed to care for her a whole lot, and he knew that once upon a time, Donna had felt the same way about him.

"So, this Jack," Donna asked as they walked toward the old tourist information centre, "Who is he exactly? Have I met him?" Oh, she knew how to ask the hardest questions. After slight hesitation, the Doctor managed an answer.

"No. No you haven't met him, he's just an old friend of mine."

"And... he works for this organisation, you said, who watch out for the rift we charge that bloody ship up on - is something wrong?"

"No, nothing to do with the rift. I just need to talk to him." He cleared his throat, "Privately."

"Awww, man things?" She smirked, "Having girl trouble, Doctor? Although, I don't know what girl that would be, you never do things like that, do ya? Not into the whole dating scene." He thought fleetingly of Rose, but pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.

"Oh, don't look at me like that!" Donna whacked him gently on the arm, "You know I don't mean it. Anyway, it's Gwen, did you say? And this Captain guy," The Doctor's stomach gave a little jolt to hear her refer to Jack so casually as _this captain guy. _"And... what's the other one's name?"

They had reached the information centre now, and the Doctor hesitated slightly before walking inside. There was no-one there, but a bell on the desk. If it was up to the Doctor, he would probably never have been able to force himself to press it, but Donna, being Donna, waltzed straight over and gave it a loud ring.

He held his breath.

* * *

Gwen sat, wondering if there was anything she ought to be doing. Nothing exciting happened nowadays. Nothing. Mostly her days were spent just chatting to Ianto, killing time before she could get out. It was so suffocating, the lack of action at Torchwood lately.

There was a loud ring to be heard from upstairs, startling Gwen and Ianto. They both jumped, then looked at each other confusedly.

"Did you order anythin'?" She asked him, puzzled.

"No. Could've been Jack, I s'pose."

"Yan, I think pizza's the last thing on Jack's mind at the moment. Oh, d'you remember how much pizza Owen used to get?"

He chuckled sadly. "Reason you're here, Gwen." She nodded with a small smile as sad as his, and started to get up.

"I'll go." He said, and made his way up the stairs, listening for any sign of who it could be. Sure enough he heard a voice, a female voice that he didn't know, laughing about something or other. But then he heard the voice that replied. And that voice was all too familiar. It couldn't be. He quickened his pace, and darted around the corner into the information centre.

Ianto's eyes widened, because it was true. Standing before him was the Doctor, and beside him the last person he would have ever expected to see at Torchwood, Donna Noble.


	20. More Than Happy

**Twenty chapters- blimey! When I started this story, I never knew it would get this long. It's definitely outdone With A Little Help. I still don't know which one I like better: I love this storyline but With A Little Help was my first ever fic, my baby. Oh well, I guess I don't need a favourite. Thanks for reviewing, keep it up!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Twenty- More Than Happy

Jack put his head in his hands. He hadn't meant to be so awful to Gwen, but it was just too much to hear her talking about Donna. He knew he had been absoulutely useless since December, but for some reason he just couldn't get over it.

He just kept thinking about the last time he'd seen her. Kept replaying the scene over and over agin in his head, thinking about what he should have done differently. It had been such a casual goodbye, no kiss, no _I love you. _Her words kept coming back to him: _We'll have all the time in the universe. _He hadn't told her about Tosh, about Owen, anything really about Torchwood, he'd just assumed they'd cover it next time. Not knowing, never guessing that there wouldn't be a next time.

Whenever he'd lost before, it had hurt, but he had moved on. Slowly, he had returned to normal. But not this time. This time, the pain wasn't getting any less. He wasn't feeling any better. There was just no getting over Donna Noble.

He heard the faint _ding _of the bell in the front entrance, but assumed it was just a delivery or someone to see Gwen or Ianto. It wasn't like it was going to be anyone to see _him_. Who did he have? Ignoring it, he looked back down to the huge pile of papers on his desk, getting back to the work that seemed so pointless now.

* * *

"Doctor!" He exclaimed, frozen in his tracks. How was this possible?

"Ianto." The Doctor greeted him hastily. "Good to see you, we weren't properly introduced last time." He smiled, shaking the stunned Ianto's hand.

"But isn't that..."

"Donna Noble." Said the redhead, beaming and coming forward. "And it is _very _nice to meet you. The Doctor never mentioned you - I can't think why..." She gave him a little wink as she shook his hand. Very confused, and a little freaked out, he managed to speak.

"But, Doctor, I thought you said Donna-"

"Is Jack here?" The Doctor interrupted him quickly, shaking his head frantically behind Donna's back. "I need to talk to him, quite urgently. Nothing to worry about." Here he nodded meaningfully at the oblivious Donna.

"Right. Jack. He's just in his office, I think. He hasn't been himself lately, after... well, after-"

xx

"Great!" The Doctor said loudly, cutting him off yet again. God, Ianto was making this difficult. "D'you just want to wait up here, Donna, I won't be long."

"More than happy to." She said with a smile, her eyes bright, with a little glance at Ianto. Okay, forget what he'd thought earlier, Donna was definitely winning in the making-things-difficult competition. Trust her to flirt with the wrong guy. As he left the room, the Doctor leaned in so Donna wouldn't hear him.

"Keep her up here," He muttered, "Don't let her downstairs, don't mention Jack or the Daleks." He knew this would confuse Ianto even more, but right now there was nothing he could do about that. He ran down the stairs and entered the hub, resisting the urge to tinker with all the gadgets around the place - now wasn't the time, no matter how fascinating everything was. As soon as Jack knew, he could get out of here. Best to get it done fast.

He was just wondering how he would actually find the Captain's office when Gwen Cooper appeared, looking shocked and at the same time a little relieved to see him. "Doctor!" She gasped, "What are you doing here?

"I need to see Jack." He said seriously, "It's about Donna. She's here." Gwen looked stunned.

"But..." Her eyes moved back and forward as she tried to process this. "I thought you said she would-"

"What the hell are you doing here?" A furious voice interrupted her, and the Doctor whirled around.

xx

Jack looked up from his work, sure he had heard voices down in the main room. Who had been ringing that bell? Listening intently, he heard a gasp from Gwen, and was up out of his seat like a shot when he realised she had said "Doctor". Was this true? Could he really be here?

He was. As Jack entered the hub, he saw the oh so familiar figure, in all his pinstriped glory, standing talking to Gwen, whose eyes were wide. All of Jack's pain and fury was magnified at seeing him again, because when he had lost Donna he had lost everything, and the Doctor was the man responsible for that.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jack asked angrily, striding towards him. Hadn't the Doctor done enough to ruin his life already? Could he not just stay away from him?

"Jack!" the Doctor said, turning to face him. "Thank goodness. How are you?"

"Oh, just peachy." Jack spat sarcastically. Was he actually trying to be _nice _to him after what he had done? Did he really think Jack would have forgiven him that easily? "What do you want, Doctor?" He looked a little uncomfortable.

"It's about Donna." Jack froze. What had happened? Had she remembered? Oh, he was so gonna kill the Doctor if anything had happened to her.

"Doctor, If she's been hurt-"

"She's fine, Jack. That's my point exactly. She..." He looked like he was struggling to say the next part.

"She's what? What are you saying?!" Jack didn't even know why he was so angry, there was so much emotion inside him that it was all fighting to get out at once, and it was coming out as fury.

"She's _here."_ The Doctor finished, glaring at him. "But Jack..." He trailed off, Jack having heard enough and started towards the stairs without hearing the end of his sentence. "Jack!" He heard the Doctor yell after him, but like hell did he stop. If Donna was here, right now, in this very building, then nothing in the universe was going to stop him from seeing her.

Ignoring the Doctor and Gwens' shouts from behind him, he hurtled up the last few steps and around the corner into the battered tourist information centre. And she was there.

His breath caught in his throat as he layed eyes on her, as he took in the sight of her. Her fiery hair tumbling over her shoulders, her beautiful face, her pale complexion - Jack loved every bit.

"Donna," He breathed, still not quite over the fact that she was here. She looked up at the sound of her name, and caught sight of him standing in the door. Jack waited for her face to break into a smile, for her to run to him. But it didn't happen.

Jack didn't register the panicked look that came over Ianto's face. He didn't notice the Doctor and Gwen arrive at the top of the stairs, panting, having obviously chased after him. All he noticed was the absent look Donna gave him.

"Um... Hi!" She said breezily, then looked over his shoulder to the Doctor. She gestured vaguely at him. "So this is Jack, then?"


	21. Take It Easy

**Wow, I haven't updated in ages! Sorry about that. A lot's been happening, and it took me a while to get this chapter right. BUT that should be so much easier from now on, thanks to my lovely new beta Cricket-And-Crumpets. I feel so grown up, having my own Beta Reader! So professional! So loads of thanks to Beth and also a little word of apology to PlutoForPlanethood04 - sorry about the wait and well done for not nicking your sister's computer and reading it early! Unless you did read early, then I give you evil eyes.**

**Anyway, everyone please enjoy and review!**

Chapter Twenty One- Take It Easy

Okay, this had officially crossed the boundary into _weird. _Just plain strange, and for a situation to reach that level was a great achievement; not much shocked her nowadays, after travelling with the Doctor.

One minute Donna had been happily chatting to one of the _fittest_ people she had ever seen (with an accent to die for!), then all of a sudden this American stranger had burst in, beaming at her and looking as though he were about to cry. And then, bringing up the rear, was the Doctor, looking exhausted, ruffled and panicked.

"Um... Hi!" She said, trying her hardest to sound casual when in fact she felt a little scared, "So this is Jack, then?"

She waved a hand at the stranger (who was, admittedly, quite handsome, although he looked like he hadn't slept in weeks).

The man's face fell. "But..." He choked, and took a step towards her. His eyes were wild, "Donna, It's me!"

She wracked her brains, trying desperately to place him. Oh god, what if he was someone important? What if he was some alien president or something she was supposed to know about? _Why?__,_she scolded herself, _Why don't you ever listen to the Doctor when he goes off on one of his speeches? _

"Right!" She said with a little laugh, as if this were a perfectly normal conversation to be having. "You!" Her smile faded. "You being...?"

xx

Many things had shocked Jack over the years, but never anything quite so much as this. It literally felt like someone had seized his heart and was now unceremoniously attempting to rip it from his chest. It was killing him. How could she not know him? She knew the Doctor, didn't seem affected by that. So why him?

"It... it's me!" He cried, trying and probably failing to keep his voice steady, "Jack, your Jack, Jack Harkness!"

How could he make her _understand? _He took a step towards her, but to his horror she backed away.

"Alright, listen." She said shakily, "I dunno what's goin' on 'ere, but I've never seen you before in my life. So just... take it easy, alright mate?"

This was too much. He turned to the Doctor, at this moment the man he hated more than anything. Because he had done this. He was responsible - he had to be.

"What did you do?" Jack asked, starting out calmly, but his voice got louder, angrier. He couldn't help it, "Doctor, what the hell is going on here?"

The Doctor gave a sigh, one hand on the back of his neck.

"It..." He started wearily, as though he didn't know how to carry on. "Oh, it... is a very long story."

"Right. Well you can tell it. Right here, right now." Jack yelled, mentally berating himself for how easily he flew off the handle nowadays. Mind you, he had gone a year without displaying any sort of emotion, didn't he deserve to show a little anger when the woman he loved, the one he had dreamed about, whom the thought of had kept him going over the past months, had no recollection of him at all?

xx

Donna looked from this Jack person to the Doctor, all the while edging discretely towards the latter. Despite herself, despite being frightened, she did actually want to know what was happening.

"I can't, not now, I just..." The Doctor stammered, glancing wildly at Donna, obviously struggling with himself.

"Fat lot o' good you are as usual, Doctor!" Jack spat venomously, but then he turned to her and his eyes softened.

"Donna," he murmured, "Please, think. You've gotta know me." He was coming towards her again, and she stumbled backwards. Generally, in a situation like this, her instinct was to grab the Doctor, but he was on the other side of the room. She glared at him, pleading for help.

"Just think." Jack said again, "Right in the back of your mind. You remember me, Donna Noble, you have to. All the things we saw together. What we _did._" His voice broke, and Donna would have felt sorry for the guy, be it not for the fact that she hadn't the foggiest who he was, and he was freaking her out slightly. Actually, scrap that, he was freaking her out a _lot. _

He placed a hand on her arm, and she, quivering with fear, did not quite dare to pull away. "Donna." He said quietly, his voice thick with emotion, "I need you to remember, because I don't know what I'll do otherwise. What it will do to _me__._I can't imagine you leaving now, leaving me. Because..." He took a deep breath, and looked into her eyes. She saw so much sadness in there, the eyes of a man who has lost too much. She knew that look anywhere - it was the look in the Doctor's eyes, and she couldn't bear it.

"Because... I love you." Jack said simply. "And I know, deep down, if you look hard enough, you know you feel the same way about me."

That struck a chord within Donna, that last sentence, and she now knew exactly what she had to do, what she had to say. It struck her as odd now that she hadn't done it sooner, said it the second he'd walked into the room.

She stopped shaking, her confidence instantly restored. This would be the best time to do it, when Jack looked so empty and vulnerable. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and said it.

"DOCTOR!"

She wrenched her arm out of the man's grip. Taking her chance, she dashed over to the Time Lord, grabbed his hand, and pulled him out of the building. Just needing to get away from this madman, she ran, back to the fountain, back to the TARDIS, faster than she'd ever run in her life.


	22. Their Natural Talent

**Wow, judging by your reviews you people really like Jack! Here's chapter 22. Also, someone said it wasn't very long, but that's only because I don't have very much time to write. But I do update frequently, and I always ensure that every chapter is AT LEAST a thousand words long, or it's not really worth it. **

**Enjoy, reviews would be lovely! Thanks again to Beth,**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Twenty Two- Their Natural Talent

Panting, Donna leant against the police box, having not stopped to catch her breath since leaving the Tourist Information centre. She let go of the Doctor's hand to clutch a stitch in her side.

"Who..." she forced out, "…the hell... was _that__?_"

The Doctor opened his mouth, then closed it again, obviously at a loss for words.

"It..." he began, not knowing how to finish, "That... That was Captain Jack."

"Oh, I know that much!" she said indignantly, "He informed me of that fact! In fact, he referred to himself as "_your _Jack" which seemed a bit overfriendly to me. Bit intimate, considerin' I've never seen the man before in my life!"

The Doctor didn't know how to answer. He couldn't tell her the truth, he couldn't. Besides, even if he did she would never believe him. Sighing, he slotted his key into the TARDIS lock, and, thank God, it opened. He had been slightly afraid that she wouldn't have let them in after the Torchwood fiasco.

"And then..." she continued angrily as they went inside, "He says 'e _loves _me! Now, don't get me wrong, I am flattered, but can ya blame me for being freaked out?"

To be honest, when the Doctor thought about it, no he couldn't. In fact, it was ironic. He must have had more in common with Donna than he'd previously thought, their actions were so similar. It was what he'd been doing all his life, running away as soon as anyone admitted they loved him. Donna had been terrified, and so had he. When Rose had said those three words... Oh god, Rose. How could he have left things with her like that? After all they'd been through together, he had run away. He suspected it was his natural talent, the only thing he really knew how to do.

He fiddled hastily with the controls, wanting to just get out of this place as soon as possible - his last two trips to Cardiff had been utter disasters. Actually, scrap that, _all _his trips to Cardiff, what with all the Slitheen trouble he'd had. With _her..._

He was pulled from his thoughts by Donna, who came and stood beside him, looking livid.

"Listen." she said forcefully, "I don't know what's been going on lately, Doctor, but you're going to tell me. Now. There's something you're keeping from me, and I think I deserve to know about it. I think it's my right."

"Finished setting the co-ordinates!" He said proudly, but she merely gave him a cold stare. "I set them to random, you know, how we agreed it's more fun..."

His voice faded at the non-response he was getting from his companion.

"The subject!" she shrieked, "You might of heard of it, it's a thing which, in this situation, does NOT NEED CHANGING!"

"Donna-" he started feebly, but she cut him off again, in full auto-rant. Understandably.

"Now you listen, Darth Vader. I want to know exactly what the hell the creepy alien pervert guy was on about, why we went to Cardiff in the first place, why I was asleep in that weird hospital room, why you asked me about Rose and Martha, and everything. Because there is something weird going on here, and you're gonna tell me what it is. Without any excuses, without leavin' anything out. Right now." She fell silent, put her hands on her hips, gave him an expectant look, and waited.

He was completely torn. Of course she had a right to know. Of course she was angry, he sure as hell would be in this situation. But telling her could only make things worse, would only confuse her more. The Doctor opened his mouth to speak. What he was planning to say, he hadn't quite figured out yet, he just knew he owed Donna _something_.

Thankfully, he didn't have to decide. Because at that moment came the most welcome distraction in all of history, and although shocked, the Doctor had never been more grateful. The TARDIS began to shake suddenly, then gave a huge jolt and they had to cling to the console to avoid being flung across the room.

"What's happening?" Donna yelled from the other side of the controls, "Where are we going?"

"I dunno!" the Doctor yelled back, as surprised as she was at their sudden takeoff. All they could do was hold on tight, and wait and see where they landed, see what the TARDIS had in store for them.

* * *

Momentarily, Jack was rooted to the spot as Donna ran away from him, out of his life for the second time. What was killing him was that this time, it had been by choice.

"Jack." Gwen's gentle voice from behind him brought him back down to Earth. He whirled around, the shock and pain obviously showing on his face.

"Jack, I'm sorry, I'm so..." she began quietly, her voice fading as she realised he was clearly not taking a bit of notice. He ignored her completely, and ran out of the building without a word, a determined look in his eye.

"JACK!" she yelled after him, but it was no use. Nothing was going to stop him reaching her, not now when she was so close.

Except, maybe, a machine which could just disappear, Jack discovered as he rounded the final corner and the fountain came into view. The TARDIS came into view as well, but he was too late. He stopped dead twenty feet away from it, because it was already beginning to dematerialize. The Doctor had already taken Donna Noble from him once again. Having been presented with one tiny sliver of hope in his miserable life, Jack had had it yanked from him almost immediately. Which, in his opinion, was worse than no hope at all.

At least before, he had known that she was safe and happy, having never heard the name "Captain Jack Harkness" in her life. But seeing the fear, the_ hatred _in her eyes as she'd run to the Doctor was too much to bear. She had heard of him, now, but would shudder every time someone brought him up. Would think of him as a lunatic who'd claimed to love her when she didn't even know him. And to Jack, knowing that she hated him was worse than her not knowing him at all.

A tear spilled over Jack's cheek as he watched the ship fade, but all of a sudden he blinked. His misery far from forgotten, but overcome temporarily by amazement, he watched in shock. Because right before the TARDIS disappeared completely, another figure rounded the corner. A figure running past him, so fast it was blurred, towards the police box. The figure grabbed on to the side of the ship as he himself had done two years earlier, and dematerialized along with it.

The only thing he'd had time to notice about the person was the mass of blonde hair tumbling down her back, shining in the winter sunlight.


	23. Last Time

**Just watched episodes two and three of Torchwood. How bloody good is it?! I think I may be in love with Owen Harper, which is strange cos he's the least attractive out of all of them - He's just so funny! Based on looks, it would have to be Ianto, although he only comes in every now and then to give them coffee and deliver a one-liner, then leaves again. Strange.**

**This chapter's really short, it's just a little filler inner before I can start the next part of the story. Enjoy anyway, and please review!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Twenty Three - Last Time

"Hold on!" the Doctor called to Donna, clinging to the console as they swayed from side to side.

"What's makin' it so bumpy?" she cried over the sound of the engines, "Where are we goin'?"

"I honestly don't know!" he yelled back, although he had a slight suspicion, right at the back of his mind.

The last time the TARDIS had freaked out like this, started flying far too fast and with so little consideration for her passengers, had been when Captain Jack had been clinging to the outside of the ship, and she had been trying to shake him off.

He hadn't done it again, had he? Surely he wouldn't dare, after what had happened with the Master? Although, to be honest, he had been so upset about the whole Donna situation that the Doctor wouldn't have put it past him.

Suddenly, with a huge jolt, they came to a standstill, as though someone had thrown on the handbrake (although, of course, the TARDIS did not have a handbrake). Where or when they were, the Doctor didn't know, although he knew they had travelled far. Very, very far.

"Christ on a bike," Donna moaned as she picked herself up, doing a quick mental check to ensure all of her limbs were still firmly attached, "Haven't felt like that since me and me mates used to go down the fair on a Saturday. Loved it, we did, the man who operated the waltzer knew all our first names."

Despite himself, the Doctor gave a chuckle, loving the fact that Donna could make light of the very worst situations.

"Well," he said grimly, "It's not often the TARDIS goes that fast. She's only done it once before, actually."

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the screen, trying to work out where they'd landed.

"So where - well, _when _are we?" she asked, leaning against the console.

He frowned.

"Planet called Sahara." he said, "Right in the very outer reaches of the universe. Completely desolate, no life forms, but the TARDIS didn't come here for the local cuisine. Oh, no."

"Then... why did she bring us here?"

"She was trying to get rid of something." he sighed, putting a hand on his forehead, "Or rather, some_one._"

"What?" Donna asked incredulously, "Someone's in here? We've got a stowaway?"

"No. Other side of the wood."

"WHAT?!"

God, she really was starting to sound like him. "Someone was clingin' to the outside? Who'd be mad enough to try somethin' like that? And _why?_"

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged at his bewildered friend, then darted down the ramp to have a look outside.

"Last time, it was Captain Jack."

"Oh, _Jesus__._" she cried as he stepped outside, "Not that lunatic again, it was him I was runnin' from! Why did 'e grab a hold last time?"

There was no reply from outside, although the door was still open so he should have been able to hear her.

"Doctor?" she called, walking down the ramp, "Who is it, what's wrong?"

He still didn't reply, and she was getting a little worried. She stepped outside, and looked around to see that the Doctor had been right. The planet was a desert, nothing in any direction but miles and miles of grey sand. It was night time, well, it was dark at least, which only made it spookier.

Shivering, she looked around to see the Doctor a few feet away from her, standing over a limp figure on the ground. She went and stood beside him, looking down in shock. Because the person was not Jack, as the Doctor had guessed, but an unconscious blonde girl who looked to be around twenty-five years old.

Donna dropped to her knees, picking up the girl's wrist. She could feel no pulse. She placed a hand on her chest, but felt no heartbeat.

"She... she's dead." she said softly, looking up at the Doctor, who wasn't moving, his face showing utter disbelief.

"Do you know her?" she asked concernedly, to which he gave a slow nod. "Doctor, who is this? Doctor?"

He swallowed as though preparing himself for something, and when he finally spoke his voice was thick with emotion.

"That, Donna," he said gravely, "Would be Rose Tyler."


	24. As If

**Chapter 24 as you requested, sir (salutes)! Beth, please don't throw a watermaelon at me for that one. Just watched Voyage of the Damned, and I officially hate Astrid. Why did he have to kiss her, _why?? _Bloody Kylie... Please review!**

**Donna xxx**

**Part Three**

**20th December 2008**

**Parallel Universe**

Chapter Twenty Four- As If

"But... he can't! You can't let him do this to me, Donna, you have to let me back!" she shrieked, trying her hardest to yank her arm away. But Donna could be strong when she wanted to, and for some reason she was determined to stop Rose from reaching the man she loved.

She felt a pair of strong arms around her, and she soon realised it was the other Doctor. Actually, scrap that, that other _man. _Because he wasn't the Doctor. He couldn't possibly be; no one could ever take his place. The Doctor was the most amazing, wonderful man in the universe, and no way could looking like him make up for the fact that this stranger was - well, exactly that. A stranger.

Rose realised that Donna had let go of her, and was backing slowly towards the TARDIS. She continued to struggle, knowing that she was running out of time. She couldn't let them leave, she just couldn't.

"I'm sorry," she heard Donna whisper, "I'm so sorry."

And then she turned, a devastated look on her face, and sprinted back to the TARDIS. Back to the Doctor, the one person Rose would have given anything to see.

"Let go!" she screamed, clawing, kicking at any bit of this man she could reach. She had to get to the TARDIS. She had to.

"Get _off _me!"

With one final grunt of energy, she pushed the man off of her, not checking, not caring if he was alright. She ran, faster than she ever had in her life, towards the police box, sure she was going to make it. But then the light came on. That all too familiar thrumming sound started, and the ship became transparent. It was fading fast, and Rose realised that she was too late. It was only just visible, and she was still twenty feet away from it...

And then it was gone altogether.

"No," she whispered, as if by denying it she could make it any less real, "No."

She turned to her mother and the man in the blue suit.

"They can't have... 'e wouldn't..." she choked, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he said, his face sorrowful. "They've gone. It's like Donna said, dimensional retroclosure. Their reality and this one have sealed off, making travel across the void-"

"Shut up!" she yelled, all of her pain and sadness erupting suddenly in the form of anger. "Stop talking like you're in charge, like you know what's going on, like you're _him_."

"But Rose, I am-"

"You are not!" her voice was strong, if a little shaky.

"You _bloody_ well are not. As if you ever could be. As if _anyone _could! No one, least of all _you_,could ever be as sweet and amazing and clever and compassionate and beautiful and loving and..." her voice cracked, and she couldn't go on. She put her head in her hands, overcome with emotion once more. Sobbing, she sank down on to the sand of the beach where she'd had her heart broken. Twice.

She felt a pair of arms around her, and she looked up, thinking it might be him again. But this time, it was her mother, pulling her into the hug that for her whole life had made everything better. Until now, that was. Because as she cried in Jackie's arms, none of the sorrow or emptiness that was engulfing her went away, and Rose had a feeling that it never would.

* * *

They sat in silence, an uncomfortable distance between them. Rose was trying to get as far away from him as possible, which was obviously very hard when they were in the back seat of a car. Every now and then he would look up as if trying to catch her eye, and she would merely look scornfully out of the window. This was partly to demonstrate just how little she wanted to do with him, but also to hide the tears that filled her eyes whenever she looked at him.

This was so hard for her, because he was so like him. Although she knew he wasn't the same man, because, well, he just wasn't, it felt _wrong_ to be ignoring someone who appeared to be the Doctor.

All the way back, she sat and half-listened to Jackie, nattering away to her father about pointless things like washing and nappies and half-price-sales, amazed at how her mother could go straight back to normal, snap back into everyday life as if none of this had happened. As if they could simply forget. Which, right now, was all Rose really wanted to do.

* * *

After several long, long hours in the car, they finally arrived back in London. Rose hadn't said a word to anyone the whole time, least of all him_._ What _could_ she say?

They pulled up outside the flat she'd moved into after Tony's screaming all through the night had gotten too much to bear. She jumped out of the car, just wanting to get inside and be alone. Her mother got out too, and pulled her into a hug.

"You gonna be alright?" Jackie whispered, and Rose pulled back to look at her.

"No." she said honestly, her voice wavering, her eyes filling up once again. Her mother sighed.

"Oh, sweetheart," she said quietly, brushing Rose's hair out of her eyes, "It'll get better. You know it will."

"But..." Rose choked, looking around wildly, "I can't believe he just _left me..._ I thought he _loved_ me, I thought he'd be so happy when I came b..."

She couldn't go on. One loud sob escaped her as she pulled away from Jackie, turned on her heel and ran.

"Rose!" she heard her mother call, "Where's he gonna..."

Her voice faded as Rose dashed into the building and up the stairs to her flat. She didn't respond, because she just didn't care. That impostor could go wherever he liked, as long as _she_ didn't ever have to see him again. How dare he claim to be the Doctor? How dare he even _compare_ himself to the man Rose had fallen in love with all those years ago?

She slammed the door behind her when she finally reached the fifth floor, and turned around to face the empty room. She leaned back against the door, breathing heavily. As she looked around the flat, which was, annoyingly, the exact same size on the inside as it was on the outside, one object caught her eye. Actually, it was two objects, to be precise.

A pair of her battered old converse, lying innocently next to the sofa, were what sent her over the edge, and suddenly this was too much to bear. She sank down onto the floor, and let the emotion take her over completely. She sobbed for the life she'd loved and lost, travelling in the TARDIS. She sobbed for the adventures she'd had, never to be had again. She sobbed for the friends she'd made, Jack, Donna, Martha and all of them.

But most of all, of course, she sobbed for the Doctor.


	25. With A Little Help

**Alright, this chapter is painfully short. But I wrote it at one o'clock this morning and my brain physically wouldn't work any more. I'll write a new one tonight, should be up soon. **

**Note the title of this chapter, how clever am I including that line? Or does it justcome across as shameless self-promotion? Naah, I don't think it does coughreadwithalittlehelpcough. Sorry about that.**

**I'm loving the reviews guys, although I get the feeling you're all mad at me. I'm sorry, but don't give up! Things are moving along, just veeeery slooowly. Have faith in me, please!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Twenty Five- With A Little Help

The next morning, Rose awoke feeling slightly refreshed. Last night, she had cried and cried for God knows how long, but hopefully she had got it out of her system.

Was she still hopelessly in love with the Doctor? Of course. Was there a single second when she wasn't thinking about him, missing him desperately? Of course not. But was she going to sit and mope and wish for something she couldn't have? No. She was going to do something about it, and ensure that she _could _have what she wanted most.

So, instead of following her instinct and laying in bed all day, crying and having imaginary conversations with the Doctor, she got up bright and early, showered and dressed before she would normally have even opened her eyes. As she came out of her bedroom, she looked around the lounge, which was a tip she had left in such a hurry. She hadn't bothered tidying up two days ago, because she had assumed she'd never see the place again. She'd assumed that she'd be back in the TARDIS by now, that the Doctor would actually _want _her, would _care _that she'd made so much effort to...

No. She couldn't start thinking like that. If she did, she knew she would break down completely, and right now that really wouldn't help. She took a deep breath, and focused entirely on what she had to do - although she didn't actually have any idea how she was going to do it.

Blinking furiously, she bent down to pull on her shoes, but as she did up the zip on her boots, she glanced carelessly around the room. Something caught her eye, and the tiniest of smiles appeared on her face. Making up her mind, she ripped off the boots, and grabbed the Converse that were still lying beside the sofa. Ignoring the fact that they didn't even remotely go with what she was wearing, were too small for her and falling to bits, she slipped them on.

Maybe, just maybe, she thought, they would give her the strength and luck she would need to do this.

* * *

"Rose!" a surprised Jake cried as she entered the Torchwood office, jumping up from his desk, "What are you doin' in today?"

"Oh, I just couldn't stay away!" she said, trying her hardest to sound cheerful. Apparently he saw right past it. He gave her a small, sad smile.

"I heard what happened." he said quietly, "Rose, I'm sor-"

"Don't." she stopped him, her eyes filling up, "Just... don't. I'm fine." Jake raised his eyebrows, clearly not convinced.

"Well... It's good to have you back, anyhow." he said, pulling her into a hug. Although it had meant to be quick, Rose found herself holding on tightly, so glad to just be held by someone who cared. When she finally pulled back, she wiped her eyes determinedly, before taking a deep breath.

"Right then!" she said in a clear voice, "Back to business!"

He smiled properly now, and nodded.

"So! How shall we start?" she asked brightly, glad that he had just accepted what she needed to do with no questions asked.

"Okay, well, we've had reports of some dodgy soundin' deaths in Guildford, if you think we should check-" he began in his broad Geordie accent.

"What?" she asked, puzzled, shaking her head, "Not that sort of business! What I meant was, how are we gonna fix that dimension cannon?"

Jake blinked, taken aback.

"Excuse me?" he said incredulously, looking at her as though she were mad, "Have you gone insane?"

"No." she said, surprised, "Why d'you say that?"

"Well... you can't be serious. After everything that's just happened? No way! That void was closed for a reason, we're not disturbing it any more. The breach stays closed."

"It bloody well does not!" she said angrily, raising her voice slightly, "You don't get to decide these things!"

"Rose, it's too dangerous, we've been there. We've done that, it caused too much trouble. I won't let you do this."

"_Let _me?" she demanded, "_Let _me? This is not your decision. I'm goin' back, and that's that."

"But Rose-"

"No!" she cut him off, "Don't you get it? I'm doin' this, Jake, with or without you."

She took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Only..." she said, a lot more gently now. "It would be so much easier with a little help."

She could see his eyes moving backwards and forwards, could almost hear the internal argument he was having with himself.

"Jake," she said softly, looking into his eyes, "Please. You know what it's like to love someone so much and then lose them. You went through it with Rickey..."

He flinched slightly here

"...I was there." Rose continued, "I helped you, I was there for you. Please, do this for me."

Jake sighed, silenced by her painful truths. He looked up, a sad look on his face, and slowly, he nodded.

"It'll take a while, mind you," He said, sighing, "It'll be hard. And your dad's not gonna like it."

It was as though Jake was trying to dissuade her, but her mind was well and truly made up.

Either Rose was going to get back to the Doctor, or she was going to die trying.

**I felt I just had to include Jake, because a) he wasn't in Journey's End, b) he's really cute and c) he's from Newcastle like me. Howay the lads! Please review!**


	26. Fragile Enough

**I've just been to see Mamma Mia! for the third time. Bloody amazing film, I recomend it to everyone because, well, who doesn't like ABBA? Plus you get one of the world's best actresses Meryl Streep, the hilarious Julie Walters and the _gorgeous _Colin Firth. Phwoar, that Mr. Darcy, he even does the wet shirt for a second! Sorry, I'm starting to sound like Bridget Jones. **

**This chapter's a little longer, but I can't seem to get past a thousand words without my brain shutting down. I'm really sorry! I do update all the time though...**

**It's also un-beta'd because Beth's on her holleedaays! So pardon the grammar mistakes, the spellcheck did all it could! But, then again, the first twenty chapters were un-beta'd and they were readable so you should be okay. Have a lush time, Beth!**

**Please review! Donna xxx**

Chapter Twenty Six- Fragile Enough

Rose was peering over Jake's shoulder at the mess of wires he had in front of him. He was studying them intently as he had been doing for the past week, nodding every now and then as if he understood something, but it was all complete nonsense to her.

"Rose, Mr. Tyler wants to see you." Said a woman, poking her head around the door. Rose looked up, rolling her eyes. Everyone around here knew that Pete was her dad, when were they going to stop with the formalities and the "Mr. Tyler"s? Probably not before she left, anyhow. Because she was going to get back. She just kept telling herself that, because she had to believe. She had to.

"Thanks, Chrissie," She muttered, and stood up. She hadn't spoken to her father in a while, maybe this was a good thing. She ambled out of the office, and sighed as she pushed the button for the lift. As soon as she got inside and the doors closed, she put her head in her hands. How much longer was she going to have to stand this? How much more could she take of working in an office, living in a flat, alone, without anyone?

Well, not without _anyone, _but certainly without the one person she really needed.

She felt tears spring to her eyes, unfortunately, at the exact moment the lift stopped and the doors opened on the top floor. Fighting to keep her face straight, her lip wobbling dangerously, she walked quickly along the corridor, ignoring the people giving her strange looks, and burst into her father's office.

"Rose!" Pete said cheerfully as she walked in, "How're you..." But then he caught sight of her face, and stood up immediately. Coming out from behind his desk, he walked straight over to her and pulled her into a hug. She clung to him for a second, squeezed her eyes shut, and took a deep breath. Now wasn't the time to break down.

Blinking, she pulled back, and flopped onto the chair opposite his desk. He took a seat on the other side, giving her a sad smile.

"How you doin'?" He asked quietly.

"Oh, you know." She said vaguely, not wanting to get too upset.

"Your Mother's been doing her nut." He said, "She tried to ring a few times, but-"

"My phone's been off." She said, no expression in her voice whatsoever.

"Right. She's just worried about you, sweetheart, we both are."

"Well, you can stop. And you can tell Mum I'm doing absolutely fantastic." She said bitterly, not meaning to sound sarcatic but managing anyway.

"No you're not." He said, shaking his head slightly. She sighed, and rested her head in one of her hands, her elbow on the desk.

"Can you blame me?" She murmured, her voice shaking, "This was the last thing I expected to happen, the last thing I _wanted..._" her voice cracked on the last word, and she was unable to go on. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to pull herself together.

"Anyway," She tried to put on a smile, "It won't be like this for long."

He blinked. "Excuse me?" She resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to tell him sometime, and now was as good a time as any.

"I, er... we... that is, me and Jake... have, erm..." She took a deep breath, then suddenly blurted it out, "We're working to fix the dimension cannon."

He let out a small laugh, and shook his head. "Oh, you were always a difficult one, Rose Tyler. I should have known you'd try something like this." He said, then looked up, still with a small smile on his face, "But... I can't let you do this. Surely you know that."

"We're not gonna _stop_, Dad. That much is for sure. So you can waste your breath tryin' to convince me, or you can help."

"Rose, think rationally here. The void's just been closed-"

"Yeah, which means it'll be easier than normal to open again, that's what Jake said. And then he can close it again as soon as I get back, no problem."

"It's not that simple, it never is! Rose, you're not looking at the bigger picture, all you're thinkin' about is how this is gonna affect_ you_, not the universe. It's already fragile enough as it is with all the recent activity, you're just off in your own little world where all that matters is getting back to the Doctor!"

"But I _have _to get back to him, Dad, you don't understand-"

"I understand, Rose. But what I don't understand is why you're willing to risk the future of the human race to get back to one man." He sighed, exasperated, "And you know what else I don't understand?" He leaned closer, speaking quietly now, "Is why, Rose, you are so determined to get back to the Doctor when he's as good as _here_?"

"If you're talkin' about that clone guy, I want nothin' to do with 'im." She said abruptly, her mind already made up on that matter.

"But that's it, Rose, you won't _listen. _If you did, you'd know that he's _not _a clone, but a metacrisis. And when a metacrisis occurs, the person's memories, thoughts, personality are transferred. He's the same man, Rose, literally the _same_ person."

"I don't wanna hear-"

"He looks exactly the same, Rose, but that's not it. He acts the same, he has all the same knowledge, he remembers everything you did together, he feels exactly the same way about _you..._" Here, Rose's eyes filled with tears, "...and he is still a complete expert on all things alien. Which is why..." Pete trailed off here, and took a deep breath as though what he was about to say next would be difficult for him.

"Which is why I've offered him a job here at Torchwood."

Rose merely glared at him, breathing heavily. A few tears spilled over her cheeks, but she completely ignored them. She opened her mouth as though she were about to say something, but instead she just got up and calmly walked out of his office without a word, slamming the door behind her.


	27. Ross And Rachel

**New chapter up already! Does that make you forgive me for giving all the characters such a hard time?**

**Actually, we have discovered why I do torture them so. I am SO FRUSTRATED because I'm definitely not going to see Hamlet when I might have been. Then Much Ado About Nothing was offered as a consolation prize, but that too was snatched away from me at the last minute. Waaaaah! I need to take out my anger on someone, and rose and co. are perfect!**

**So, if you don't like the awful situations I've put the characters in, you can take it up with the Royal Shakespeare Company.**

**Please review! Donna xxx**

Chapter Twenty Seven- Ross and Rachel

The first time she caught sight of him was a week later. She had just run down to the basement to find a certain tool for Jake. It was strange, how energetic she felt nowadays; normally it would have been the complete opposite. But having this project to work on, knowing that every day she was one step closer to the Doctor somehow made it bearable, and she threw herself into it completely.

She was walking, so fast she was practically running down a corridor back to her office when she saw him. He was just walking along, having not noticed her yet, and she stopped dead. Breathing heavily, feeling like she'd been punched, she just gawped. She took in every last bit of him, the suit, the _amazing _hair, the sideburns, the tie... and the shoes. The shoes that matched the ones she'd been wearing every day since she'd returned.

Suddenly, he looked up and caught sight of her. He too stopped in his tracks, immense shock showing on his face. They just stood for a few seconds, their gazes locked in each other's, whatever they had been doing completely forgotten. _It must have looked quite strange, really_, Rose thought later, _the kind of thing me and the Doctor would have laughed about_. The real one, that was.

She was transfixed. So many thoughts and feelings came bubbling up inside her that she couldn't make sense of it. She felt so confused, this was him but it wasn't. It couldn't be. But then... why did she have such a strong desire to seize him and kiss him right there, right then?

But then, just as suddenly, she was brought crashing back down to (parallel) Earth. Realising, she gasped, and stumbled backwards, dropping the strange clamp she was holding. He looked greatly distressed at this, and actually started walking towards her. Oh God, what was she going to do? She was so confused, and she felt tears burning at her eyes. The last thing she needed was to cry in front of him.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to handle speaking to him, she turned around and started walking away at top speed. However, when she was sure she'd lost him, she felt a hand on her arm. She stopped, and took a deep breath. Turning around to face him, she saw that he was holding the clamp she'd completely abandoned. Her eyes blazing, she yanked her arm off his.

At this, he looked a little hurt, which made her feel even more uneasy. Oh God, he was like the Doctor. He opened his mouth, as though he were about to speak, but she cut him off, not wanting to hear such a familiar voice.

"Thanks." she muttered, taking the tool and quickly turning away again, her heart pounding. She couldn't deal with this right now. But as she walked away, she heard him speak. Just one word, but it was enough to make her heart stop.

"Rose!"

She looked at him over her shoulder, trying to look haughty but her face displaying her true feelings.

"Just so you know..."

Oh, he wasn't going to say anything here, in the corridor in front of everyone, surely?

"...for a dimension cannon? You'll need a smaller clamp than that."

She opened her mouth wanting to say something, _anything, _but she couldn't bear it. With a sigh, she turned on her heel and walked off, not towards her office, but back down the stairs to fetch a smaller clamp.

* * *

"Can you pass that spanner?" Jake asked companionably as they worked. He was fiddling with one of the broken yellow buttons, while she studied breach readings on the computer. She handed it to him absent-mindedly, other things on her mind.

"So," he said, "I was chatting to the Doctor today."

At this, she swivelled round abruptly in her chair.

"You WHAT?"

"The Doctor. Well, the... _new _Doctor, you might say. The human one."

She sighed.

"And... why are you telling me this?" she asked him, raising her eyebrows.

"Well... It's just..."

Looking a little uncomfortable, he put down the device he was dissecting and leaned in closer to her.

"Rose, he's the same guy." he started, looking pained, "I don't know why you can't accept that, he _is _the Doctor. And we're working so hard to fix this thing when he's _here_.Here, and human, and completely in love with you, and you won't even talk to him!"

"Jake, please, don't-"

"This is what the Doctor _wanted, _Rose! He left you here with himself so you would take him and love him and-"

"Don't tell me how I should be feeling!" she suddenly exploded. "You don't know the Doctor like I do, Jake, no-one does! No-one's seen what he's really like, save Donna, and-"

"Exactly. Donna. he's got her, hasn't he? Why can't you-"

"I just _can't_." she said, her voice breaking, "I _need_ him. More than I need anything else. Please, try and understand."

"I understand that you need him, Rose, believe me, I do feel for you. But I don't know why you're making this so difficult for him, for _yourself. _Of course I'll still fix this with you, if that's what you want. But just... think about what I've said. Please."

* * *

Rose drained her wine glass, and leaned down to put it on the floor beside the sofa. Sighing, she flopped back into the cushions, staring at the TV because it was the only thing _to _do. The last episode of _Friends _was on a rerun, though Rose had seen a thousand times.

_"Pheebs, I love you, and I will call you the _minute_ I get to Paris. Bye."  
"Who was that?"  
"Oh, just my crazy friend. She said she had a _feeling_ that something was wrong with the 'left filangie'. But don't worry, she's almost never right about this stuff"  
"Of course not. There's no such thing a 'filangie'."_

Well, back home she had seen it, anyway. Rose watched as Rachel clinked glasses with the man sitting next to her, followed by a shot of Ross and Phoebe running up to an empty gate, a plane taking off in the background.

She gave a small laugh, and decided she _definitely_ couldn't stay here now. She wasn't with her Doctor, the void was sealed, and to top it all off, Ross and Rachel didn't end up together.

Although it seemed petty, it made her ache slightly inside. A tiny thing like that reminded Rose that, although her mother liked to think so, this universe wasn't home. It never could be, this wasn't where she belonged. And she knew now, more than ever, that where she belonged was in the TARDIS, by the Doctor's side.

**I'm assuming everybody's seen the last episode of _Friends. _If not, what's wrong with you? Away and watch it, pronto. And if you don't cry then you're not allowed to read this any more.**

**Joking! Or am I...?**

**Donna xxx**


	28. There's A Way

**Hurrah! New chapter! Plot moving along nicely! Still not going to see Hamlet! Oh... that's not cheerful, but right now it's the only thing on my mind. Along with Mamma Mia! I've been cheated by since I don't know when, do do doo do do do, do do do dooo do, so I made up my mind...**

**Please leave me a lovely constructive review to take my mind off the lack of Tennant in my life!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Twenty Eight- There's A Way

"I'm tellin' you, just use that one." Rose insisted, "The other one was too big."

"But I asked you to get a size eight!" Jake looked at her confusedly.

"I know, but... look, just try it. Just check." she needed to know if the advice the- _he_ had given her was right.

"Have you got the bigger one with you as well?"

"Well... yeah, but-"

"Pass me that one, please, Rose."

"But Jake, I really think-"

He took the big clamp out of her hand.

"Just trust me, alright? I know what I'm doin' here."

Rose giggled.

"You can trust me on this." she said, winking and giving him a thumbs up.

He gave a small laugh as he continued to fiddle, but soon became serious again. She could tell he was thinking about the first time she'd come to the parallel Earth - it was when he had lost Rickey.

She felt a little sad thinking about it too. If it weren't for that freak accident when they fell through the breach, she and the Doctor would never have been separated. Funny, how one little action could have prevented so much despair. Rose's thoughts turned to Donna, how she had changed her life simply by turning left. That had been when Rose was desperately searching for the Doctor in the midst of the darkness and the war.

She had succeeded, at last - only to have him send her away again. The thought brought tears to her eyes, but she blinked them away impatiently. She was about to put that right.

"You see!" Jake's voice brought her back down to Earth, "This size is absolutely..."

His voice, previously cocky and patronizing, faded. His face dropped, and he turned to her, looking a little sheepish.

"Far too big." he finished. "I, er... might need the..."

Struggling to keep her face straight, she held out the smaller tool. He took it without looking at her, his head down. As he started to fiddle once more with the device, she couldn't help it, and let out a splutter of laughter.

"So!" he said abruptly, obviously eager to change the subject, "That worked."

Rose quickly stopped laughing and for a moment, her heart stopped beating, as she dared to hope.

"What, you... Is it... It's finished?"

Oh God. What if this was real? What if she could go back, properly, right now? This was too good to be true.

Literally. Because Jake shook his head, a small, sad smile on his face.

"No, Rose." he said gently, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but it's really not going to be that simple. I wish it was, y'know I do but... it's gonna take a long time before we can get this thing working again."

She nodded, and laughed bitterly, angry at herself for letting emotion and wishing completely take over her for a moment. She shook her head, turning away to hide the crestfallen look on her face. How could she have been so stupid?

"Rose, I won't think anything of it, you have every right, it's _okay_ to be upset-" he started quietly, but she cut him off before she broke down.

"Actually," she said, truthfully but harshly, "No, it's not. We don't have time."

She took a deep breath, "If this is gonna be as hard as you say, then we'd better get to work!"

She secured a falsely bright smile on her face, and went to switch on one of the computers.

"Rose-"

"Don't." she turned to face him, willing him not to go on. "Just... don't."

And he got the message, for he shut up, turning back to face the multiple wires in front of him. They were silent for a while, as he worked and she waited for the computer to switch on. He was the one to break the silence eventually, just as she was logging on to the Torchwood network.

"So how did you know?" he asked mildly.

"Know what?" she asked, turning her head round to look at him over her shoulder. She had done it so many times now, she didn't even need to look as she touch-typed the word _Doctor _into the password box on the screen and hit _Enter_.

"To get a smaller clamp." he said, as though it were obvious, "I mean, no offence, but you're not so good at the technical side of things, and-"

"Pah!" she laughed, "Charmin', you are!"

"I was just askin'." he muttered.

"I know! And you're right, I 'aven't got a clue what you're doin'. Actually, it was..."

Her expression changed from light to solemn here, "It was the, erm... The..."

She couldn't say it, she just couldn't. She cleared her throat. "It was that man. The one that Donna made. The metacrisis, er... person."

Jake nodded slowly, studying her face.

"Rose, why can't you just say it?" he asked quizzically, "Why won't you just call him the Doctor?"

"Because, Jake," she swallowed, "He isn't."

* * *

Jake had been right. It _did _take a long time. All day, every day, they slaved away, fighting to find a way to get her home. He would work on repairing the yellow buttons, while she monitored the breach on the computers, studying ways to open it without both universes collapsing.

The days turned into weeks, which then rolled into months. It had been eleven months and ten days, to be precise, since the Daleks. Since he had left her stranded here.

The only way she had been able to stand it had been the thought of him, that the more she worked, the closer she got to being with the Doctor once more. She would think of him all day as she worked, she would stumble back to bed late at night and dream of him, then she would wake up and head back to the office. He was what she lived for. The Doctor was Rose Tyler's whole world.

Now, she and Jake sat in the office as they did every day, but today was proving to be far from ordinary.

"Oh, my God." she muttered, still reading from the computer screen, "Oh, my..."

"What?" he asked mildly, looking up from what was actually beginning to look like a dimension cannon.

"There's a way." she breathed, "Oh, bloody hell, there's a way to do it!"

She let out a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob, too shocked to really take it in yet.

Jake stood up, and came to look over her shoulder. He gasped, before turning to her and grinning.

"Yep." he breathed, "That would be a way to open the void alright. You, lass, are a genius."

"Not without you, I'm not. So, we have a way to open the breach safely... How are we coming along with a way to travel through it?"

"Actually," he said gleefully, picking up the button. It had no back, but looked very near completion. "We're coming along brilliantly. Sort of."

Her heart sank.

"What d'ya mean, 'sort of'?" she asked suspiciously, not knowing if she really wanted to hear his answer.

"We just need one more part." he said, "And it's not gonna be easy to come by."

"Well... what is it we need?" she asked, her voice shaking. They had to find one. They had to.

"A dimensional stabiliser. It's to protect the user when travelling through the void, otherwise you'd just burn up. You can't use the cannon without it, it's not safe."

"And... they're rare?"

"Unfortunately, yes." he sighed, "I don't know where we're gonna get one. They certainly won't have any down in the basement, if that's what you're thinkin'."

"Well... can't we build one?" she asked, her voice rising in pitch. For God's sake, they had been working for practically a year, she had her heart completely set on this, no way was one part gonna stop her from getting back.

"I wouldn't know how, Rose. I'm sorry, but it would take someone with a lot more technical knowledge than me to put together a dimensional stabiliser."

"What do they look like?" she asked frantically. Why that would matter, she didn't know, but they couldn't leave it at that.

"One suitable for the cannon? It would be a little metal disc, about the size of a five pound coin." _Bloody parallel Earth money, R_ose thought. She would never get used to it. Thank God she wouldn't have to. Thinking, she could recall a fiver being a bit bigger than a normal earth two pound coin.

"But a bit thicker than the coin."

She nodded silently. They had to get one, full stop. But how? Jake couldn't make one, and _she _sure as hell couldn't.

"We'll figure something out." she said determinedly, "We will. We have to."

She didn't know how they would do it, but they would. She knew they would. Because getting back to the Doctor was all that mattered. And to make that happen, Rose was willing to do anything. Absolutely anything.


	29. Last Gift

**I am so soft. I am literally sobbing my heart out writing this, you'll see why when you read this chapter.**

**Also, I'm going away tonight night for two weeks (!) so there'll be no updates for a while. But to make up for it, this chapter is reeeeeally long and reeeeeally amazing, and I though it was an okay place to leave it. **

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Twenty Nine- Last Gift

"We'll figure something out." she said determinedly, "We will. We have to."

Jake nodded. He knew how much this meant to her, could see past his own feelings on the matter, and Rose really admired him for it.

"Thank you." she said quietly, sincerely, "Thank you so much. I honestly couldn't have done this withou-"

There came an almighty crash from the corridor, and the two of them both jumped up, ready for action. They exchanged a worried glance as the crashing continued, before Rose ran out into the hall to see what was going on.

She looked both ways, but could see nothing. Shrugging, she turned back to the office, but then it started again, louder than ever. She whirled around in time to see the most hideous creature rounding the corner, smashing everything in its wake. The thing was huge, a sickly green colour - and, Rose realized with horror, holding a large gun.

Her heart sank. Because as she realized this, she realized another thing. She was unarmed, and the thing was pointing the weapon straight at her. Her eyes widening, she backed up against the wall and put her hands up.

She was trembling all over. It had been so long since she'd faced a real alien.

"Listen," she said calmly, thinking of how the Doctor would diffuse the situation by talking, "I want to hel-"

But she never got to finish her sentence. Because all she saw next was the thing snarling and raising its weapon. She heard a colossal BANG... And then she didn't see or feel anything more.

xXx

The Doctor quickened his pace. The thing was way ahead of him, and, even worse, it was still carrying the gun it had swiped from the storerooms. Who knew what innocent Torchwood employee it could run into if he let it get out of his sight? He was the head of the department, and he just couldn't let it injure anyone. He couldn't cause any more death.

Any more pain. Because that seemed to be all he had caused Rose Tyler. For a year, she had ignored him, completely cut him out of her life. And, although it caused him so much pain he could hardly bear it, the Doctor hadn't interfered. He hadn't chased after her, as much as he had wanted to. Hadn't tried to convince her otherwise. Because it was her life. And all he wanted, all he had ever wanted, was for her to be happy. This way, she could be, and it didn't matter whether or not it was killing him.

He heard another _crash _ahead as the creature broke more windows and instruments, leaving nothing. The Doctor broke into a run, not knowing exactly how he would tackle the monster but knowing he had to get there fast. Or it would kill.

He rounded the corner and froze. Because the thing was pointing the gun at somebody. But this wasn't just any innocent Torchwood employee. Oh no. It was Rose, backed up against the wall and looking terrified.

"Listen," she started to talk, and his single heart filled with pride. He had taught her well, "I want to hel-"

But then, in that same instant, that same single heart filled with fear. With so much pain, so much anger and coldness. Because in that same instant, the thing raised its stolen gun and shot Rose Tyler through the chest.

Gasping, the Doctor darted forwards, not caring that the thing was still there. Someone else could deal with that, because right now, the only thing in the world that mattered to him was the fact that Rose had fallen immediately, blood seeping through her clothes. The fact that she was lying, her eyes closed, completely limp. The fact that she was dead.

Breathing heavily, he sunk to his knees beside her. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be. After all they had been through; it couldn't just end like that, being shot through the heart which might as well have been his. He was sure it was just as painful for him, seeing it, as it was for her, actually being shot. If not more. For Rose, it would have been quick. She wouldn't have known anything.

But he had to live with it. He had to live for the rest of his life, his long life - well, depending on... it didn't matter - knowing that he had caused this, not intentionally, but he could have stopped it. If only he had run a little faster, he could have saved her.

He was vaguely aware of the rest of his team arriving and sedating the monster, but it didn't matter. He squeezed his eyes shut as the inevitable tears came. He clasped her hand, hoping, praying that if he wished hard enough she would squeeze back.

And then she did. He felt her hand move, oh so slightly, and he looked up, his eyes wide, his face tear-streaked. Her eyes flickered open, clearly not taking in her surroundings yet. He watched in amazement and disbelief as the wound on her chest healed itself, the blood disappearing in an instant.

She lifted her head slightly, blinking furiously. Her eyes came into focus, and he was filled with love and hope as for one second, one shining second, she focused on his face, looking properly into his eyes for the first time in a year. Her brow furrowed, and her mouth formed a silent "O" shape in confusion.

But then she realized. She came back to her senses, and scrambled to her feet, yanking her hand from his.

"Rose..." he choked, but she just gave him a terrified stare before she turned on her heel and ran.

* * *

Rose leaned back on her sofa at home, completely ignoring her surroundings, focusing instead on the events of yesterday. She was so confused, so scared. What had happened? She remembered the thing pointing the gun at her, she was pretty sure she remembered it firing as well. But then ... nothing. For a while, it was blank, as though she had been nowhere. Not asleep, not awake, not anything. Almost as if she had been... but no.

Of course she hadn't died, how could she have? She was sitting here, fiddling with her hair, avoiding work, tapping her foot, watching _Frasier, _for crying out loud. This, in her opinion, made her very much alive.

And what about the other goings on that day? The dimensional stabilizer... if she could just get that, she'd be laughing. But how the hell was she going to get her hands on one of those? She certainly couldn't make one; she didn't _really _know what it was, except a little silver disc.

She was jerked from her highly confusing, frustrated thoughts by a loud buzz. Sighing, she got up to go to the door, wondering who it could be. No-one knew she was here; she wasn't exactly queen of socialites at the moment. It was probably just her mother, or someone wanting to get into one of the other flats.

"Yeah?" she said into the speaker in a bored voice. She was expecting to hear Jackie's shrill "Hiyee!" or a "Sorry, wrong button," so she almost jumped out of her skin when she heard his voice.

"Rose?"

It was him. The D- no. The metacrisis.

"What..." she forced eventually. She cleared her throat, needing to sound more professional and breezy, "What are you doing here?"

"I need to speak to you."

"I don't know if that's-"

"_Please, _Rose. I just need to tell you something."

And he sounded so desperate, so helpless, that, with a shaking hand, she pressed the button to let him in.

She took a deep breath. She could handle this, of course she could. She opened the door, still shocked to see him there even thought she had been expecting it. It still got to her, just how much he was like the Doctor. She stood back to let him in, not quite knowing what to say. Closing her eyes for a second to brace herself, she shut the door, and turned to look at him properly.

He looked the same as always. Same outfit, same hair... but there was something new. He looked weaker than usual, tired, as though he were ill.

"Can I, er..." she started, unsure, "What do you want?"

"I just needed to know how you were doing. After yesterday."

"Well, I'm fine. I'm okay."

"You're not... shocked at what happened?"

He winced slightly, a hand flying briefly to his head, but he appeared to soon forget it.

"Well, I don't _exactly _remember-"

"You died, Rose."

Hearing him say it, confirm her suspicions so frankly, was awful.

"But... how? I couldn't have, I'm here, look at me!"

"I figured it out." he said sadly, "It was when you... when I started to regenerate. Back in the TARDIS, you kissed me. While all the energy was surrounding me, and that fed into _you. _You took on all that regeneration energy, Rose, and it did this to you."

She sank down onto the sofa, a hand on her head. This was too much to take on.

"So... I can't... can't die? I'm immortal?"

"It would seem so." he said quietly. She frowned, her mind going crazy trying to absorb this. But then something hit her.

"_Him._" she muttered, glancing at him.

"What?"

"When I kissed _him, _not _you_."

He sighed, wincing in apparent pain again.

"Rose, I am-"

"You are NOT!" she cried, suddenly snapping, jumping up to face him with a venomous look on her face.

"Why won't you believe me? Look at me!" he yelled back, losing it too, needing to get things off his chest as much as she did.

"Yeah, you look like 'im, but does that make you him? No! Does lookin' like each other make twins the same person? No! And that's the same with you!"

"It's called a _metacrisis, _Rose, a _metacrisis! _Why won't you listen to anyone? He told you that, I did, Pete did, Jake did, Donna did, what more do you want? Why have you got it stuck in your little head that what _you _say is right, and no-one else can _possibly _be speaking a word of the truth, because no, you would know all about biogenetic transference and-"

"I don't care about science; all I know is that what he did was completely unfair, leaving me here with you! _You, _with your cheap little tricks when you pretend to know me, pretend to know _anything_ about me-"

"Unfair, Rose? You want to know what's unfair? That I _can _remember. I remember absolutely everything about what we did together, all for nothing. I could never forget just how much I love you, Rose Tyler, and what's more is I can remember a time when you loved me! I won't ever forget the way I feel about you, the way you've changed me, the way I couldn't _help _but fall in love with you the minute I saw you in that shop basement so long ago!"

Rose was silenced. They were standing dead opposite each other by now, glaring at each other, both faces furious. She breathed out heavily, trying to take in what he had just said. Tears came to her eyes, and she opened her mouth to say something, anything.

She couldn't explain why she did it. But when she opened her mouth, there was nothing she _could _say. Staring at him, still looking angry, she stepped forward determinedly, seized his head, and kissed him.

He was obviously shocked at first, but he wanted this just as much as she did, and after a second he gave in to it, pulling her closer. She deepened the kiss, needing to be closer to him, and he responded eagerly, picking her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

It was fast, and furious, the two of them locked together as though they could never be pulled apart. It was angry, desperate, but most of all, the kiss was pure passion.

After what seemed like hours, he pulled back, clutching his head and gasping for air. At the time, Rose put it down to the intensity of their kiss; after all, she was trying to catch her breath as well. He looked deep into her eyes, and this time she didn't look away. Instead she smiled, her eyes filling up.

"I can't believe it." she whispered, so happy. "It's you."

"Oh, it's me alright." he said, grinning.

"How could I have been so stupid, Doctor?" she cried, "All this time, I've been ignoring you when we could have been... What are you smirking about?"

"You just called me 'Doctor'." he said gleefully, and she realized he was right. For a year, she had referred to him as 'him', 'the metacrisis', 'the clone' and God knows what else, but she had simply refused to believe he was the Doctor. Until now.

"Well, would you rather I called you something else? Professor, maybe? John Smith? Albert Einstein?" she joked, and he stumbled backwards, a hand flying to his head.

"Bloody hell, I was just kiddin'..." she muttered, but by now she was starting to get a little worried, "Doctor?"

"I..." he choked, "I'm fine."

"No, you're not." she said, her voice trembling. "What's happening to you?"

"Nothing!" he cried, trying to sound cheerful, "Everything's fine, everything's gonna be perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect,"

He broke out of it and gasped, clutching his head.

"Doctor! Oh my god." Rose yelled, crying by now, "Tell me!"

He gave her a sorrowful look which broke her heart.

"Oh, Rose," he said softly, and she let out a loud sob, "It's... it's the metacrisis. It's not possible."

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean, it's not possible to have a part human, part Time Lord. The same thing would have happened to Donna, right after they left."

"But," she choked, "Why didn't it happen to you then?"

"Because she was taking on a much wider consciousness. The Time Lord knowledge was too much for her, too big to fit inside her head." he swallowed, "But for me, it's the other way around. A human has such a smaller brain capacity that it's draining mine. Destroying it. It took so long to take effect because the erosion process is a lot slower than inflation."

"But," she looked up at him, "What's it gonna do to you?" He merely looked down at her sadly, and she knew exactly what he meant. She threw her arms around him, and he just held her as she cried.

"No." she whispered into his chest, "No!"

"I'm sorry," he said, then suddenly recoiled, clutching his head once again. She made to move towards him, but he held out a hand to stop her.

"Don't!" he cried, grimacing, "Just stay back, Rose, stay aw- AAAARGH!"

He dropped to the floor, and in an instant she was there beside him. Hysterical, she didn't notice him as he slipped his hand into his pocket and brought something out.

"Doctor," she sobbed, on her knees, his head in her lap, "You can't! Not now, not when we've just..."

She couldn't finish, she could barely breathe, let alone speak.

But somehow, she managed to force out three words, the hardest she had ever had to say.

"I..." she clutched him to her, his eyes still open, just, "I love you."

And the tiniest of smiles came over his face, just before it ended, and his eyes shut for the last time.

This couldn't be happening. The Doctor couldn't be dead, she was nothing without him. If only she had listened, if only she had believed him when he had told her. But no, she had been typical stubborn Rose Tyler, and ignored him, given him such a miserable time, when they could have been... She couldn't bear to think about it.

But, there was one last tiny little light, one small beacon of hope that she could cling to. Because as he went limp, as he stopped taking his own weight, as he literally died in her arms, she heard a _clunk. _And although she was absolutely devastated, she had to know what it was.

Through her tears, she looked down, and saw that a tiny object had fallen from the Doctor's hand. One last gift that most people would find worthless, but was the most important thing in the world to Rose.

Because, lying on the floor by his side was a small, silver, metal disc, exactly the size of a five pound coin.

**Please review, I want to know how many of you cried! I so did...**

**Donna xxx**


	30. Without Thinking

**Guess who's back? Oh yes! C'est Donna, reporting for duty after two lovely weeks holiday with a new chapter and one day left before school starts again. Hmm. Suddenly not feeling so cheerful any more. Never mind! Enjoy, my dears, and as always please let me know what you thought.**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Thirty- Without Thinking

"You know, you really didn't have to come all the way here with me." Rose smiled at Jake as they got off the train two days later. "I probably could have managed to get the train by myself."

"That you could have done, but would I have let you loose in a big city, on your own, to try and work a dimension cannon? You'd have ended up killing half the population!"

"Ouch!" She laughed, "I'm not a technical whizz like you, but can I remind you that it was _me _who managed to find a way to open the void. On a computer, by myself, might I add!"

They exited the station now, passing under the huge sign that said _Cardiff Central. _This city was the only place the buttons would work, Jake had explained, because of the rift running through it. It served as a power source for the cannon, helping it rip a hole in the fabric of the universe - but Rose didn't like to think about that part.

She couldn't bear to, because she knew that what she was doing was incredibly dangerous and selfish, but... she just had to get back to him. She had to. After all that had happened - the fact that he'd left her there, what had happened with the human Doctor - She just had to ask him_: Why?_

* * *

"Is _this_ it?" She asked in a bored voice for the hundredth time. Quite rightly, seeing as they'd been walking for what felt like hours. Rose had wanted to get going straight away, but no, Jake had said. They had to find the point in Cardiff where the rift was strongest.

"Jesus, you sound like a toddler!" Jake cried, "How did your Mam ever put up with you?"

"Don't ask." She grinned. "The woman is a saint." She was really going to miss Jake, having worked with him for two years. After he'd been so kind, helping her out. She found it easy to get along with him, have a laugh... and he'd been the only company she'd had since she'd got back.

"Oh, though," She groaned, her smile slipping, "My mum. I feel awful, she was so mad at me."

"She understands really, Rose. She was just..." They rounded a corner, and Jake abruptly stopped talking. "This is it." He said quietly, and Rose's mouth fell open.

"For real?" She asked, unable to believe that this was really happening, that after all that work she was finally going back.

He nodded, grinning. She let out a small, disbelieving laugh and looked around at her surroundings to see the millennium centre and a huge golden fountain towering over them.

"But this is..." She started, "Isn't this where Torchwood is? Is there another Jack here? God, that would be weird."

"I don't know," Jake said, considering, "How did you meet him?"

"It was when we were in the Blitz..." She struggled to remember, but then something hit her. "Except - we weren't. There is no Doctor here. And no me to travel with him. So... Captain Jack wouldn't 'ave come to Earth, wouldn't 'ave come on board the TARDIS... Wouldn't 'ave been stranded here when we left him. Would have no need to work for Torchwood. God, I never thought about that."

It was strange, thinking how many people they must have affected, whose lives they must have changed without even realising it. How much difference she and the Doctor actually made to the universe.

"But there could still be a Torchwood here, right? Gwen could still work there, so could... what was the other one's name again?"

Jake shrugged. "How should I know? Didn't spend very long in that universe at all."

"Well... that could change." She suggested, looking at him properly, "You could come too, Jake."

She was smiling encouragingly, but he shook his head. "What for? There's nothing there for me, no-one I know. This is my home, Rose. I'll be fine."

"I'm gonna miss you though." She admitted with a sad smile, and he nodded.

"Me too. I-" He didn't need to finish. Not that he could have if he wanted to, because Rose had thrown her arms around him and most likely knocked all the wind out of him.

"Thank you." She breathed, "God, I so couldn't have done this without... Oh, you know!"

She pulled back, grinning. "Take care, yeah?"

"And you. And seriously, Rose, I don't want to see you in this universe again, you hear?"

She raised her hand in mock salute. "Sir!"

And that was it. Unable to stop smiling, absolutely euphoric that she was actually going back, she pulled the button out of her pocket and pressed down sharply. The strange but familiar feeling came over her for just a second, the feeling that she was flying, rushing through the air so very fast and never going to stop...

And then she did. Suddenly, she was thrown back down to Earth, disorientated and completely out of breath. Looking around frantically, she sighed in relief when she saw the huge _silver _fountain over the top of a building, and the complete lack of zeppelins in the sky. This was _her _Earth. Her home.

Rose actually let out a huge laugh of relief, still not quite believing that she'd done it. But, as the excitement wore off, and the looks from passers-by got stranger, she was hit with a sudden realisation. She was back in her universe.

Her_ universe_. As in her huge great infinite universe. And she was looking for one man in his little blue box. Oh god. She had been so focused on just getting back here, just being home, that she hadn't even thought about what she'd do when she arrived.

As it turned out, she didn't have to think much at all. Because as Rose stood, agonising over her own stupidity, she heard a noise. A noise that, at first, she thought was just in her head. But soon there was no denying that metallic thrumming sound, getting louder and louder. There was only one thing in the universe that made that sound, that gorgeous sound - the TARDIS.

Immediately she set off at a run in the direction of the noise, her heart beating faster than it ever had before. Could this really be happening?

Yes, apparently. Because as she rounded a corner, she actually saw it. The big blue police box, standing right in the middle of the square, underneath the fountain - but it was starting to fade. And she couldn't let that happen again. Without thinking about it, without taking in her surroundings, she began to run again towards the ship, no thought of what it might do to her or the possibility that she wouldn't make it.

No, the only thought in Rose Tyler's head as she grabbed a hold of the outside of the TARDIS was just how very close she was to the Doctor, and the thing she wanted most in the world.


	31. A Huge Torrent

**OMG! Who's just watched the first new Ugly Betty on C4? I was so gutted when the writer's strike happened, but so glad we've got it back AT LAST! **

**Eep! Amanda's dad might be Gene Simmons! They're using real girls as models! Wilhelmina wants Christina to have her baby! Alexis is being a cow, making Daniel sit on a little chair! And Daniel... Is being as gorgeous as ever. Gorgeous, and sweet, and funny, and loveable, and... (Sighs). Ah, I love that guy- Show. Of course I mean show. I love that, er, show. Ahem.**

**Anyway, here we go! Oh, you are gonna love this. At least, I hope you are...**

**Donna xxx**

_Previously: _

_Shivering, she looked around to see the Doctor a few feet away from her, standing over a limp figure on the ground. She went and stood beside him, looking down in shock. Because the person was not Jack, as the Doctor had guessed, but an unconscious blonde girl who looked to be around twenty-five years old._

_Donna dropped to her knees, picking up the girl's wrist. She could feel no pulse. She placed a hand on her chest, but felt no heartbeat._

_"She... she's dead." she said softly, looking up at the Doctor, who wasn't moving, his face showing utter disbelief._

_"Do you know her?" she asked concernedly, to which he gave a slow nod._

Chapter Thirty One- A Huge Torrent

The Doctor was beyond surprised. This was the very last person he had expected to find. Jack, he had thought, refusing to let Donna go and playing his old TARDIS-clinging trick once again. But no. The person lying in front of him, dead, really really wasn't Jack.

It was Rose. The Doctor couldn't believe it, didn't for a second, but he would know that face, that beautiful face, anywhere.

"Doctor, who is this?" He heard Donna's voice from what seemed like a great distance, and he was brought crashing back down to Earth. Well, Sahara. "Doctor?" She asked again, her voice getting more and more worried.

He closed his eyes for a second, and swallowed, pulling himself together. Frozen with shock, he prepared himself, tried to force himself to just say it. It was so hard, because if he actually said it out loud then he would be admitting that this was real. And that she was dead.

"That, Donna," He managed eventually, his voice thick, "Would be Rose Tyler."

In that split second, two things happened. For one thing, Donna jumped up to a standing position and stumbled back several feet incredibly quickly, like she'd just had a huge shock.

But that, the Doctor barely noticed. Because in that exact same instance, Rose's eyes suddenly snapped open, and she sat straight up, gasping for air. He nearly had a heart attack. His mouth just dropped open, and he was too stunned to move as she got to her feet.

His Rose. Rose Tyler, actually standing here in front of him once more, quite clearly not in her parallel universe like she should be. But God, was he glad to see her.

"Rose," He choked eventually, unable to say anything else. He gave a small smile, only now taking in the fact that she was real.

She nodded, looking like she was about to cry. The Doctor had so many questions, why she was here_, how_, where his other self was... but he couldn't manage to say a single thing, because she was coming closer, so slowly. And now she was in front of him, looking him up and down as if to make sure he was really there. She touched him gently on the arm, never breaking eye contact.

And then, completely out of the blue, the Doctor felt a hand connect sharply with his face, a proper slap the likes of which even Jackie could never achieve. Reeling, he stumbled backwards, completely bewildered. A glance at Rose's fuming face confirmed that it had been her.

Looking for an ally, the Doctor spun around to face Donna, sure she would be as confused as him. But, before he could properly look at her, she too had raised her hand and given him a slap to end all slaps.

Now completely disorientated, baffled and with his face on fire, he staggered backwards again, so the two women were facing him. Both of them looked absolutely livid, their gazes fierce.

"Wh-" He started, blinking furiously and clutching at his face, before he was cut off by the two of them.

"You _BASTARD_!" They screamed in unison, both of them glaring at him like he didn't deserve to be alive.

"I don't-" He started again, thinking that this _must _be a dream, before they interrupted him once more, yelling at the same time so he couldn't understand a word. All he could catch were snippets of their sentences as they ranted over each other, getting louder and louder and more agitated as they went.

"You don't_ know_ what-"

"Not remember, Dumb-"

"How about, you told-"

"-because I sure as hell haven't-"

"-_loved_ me? And then-"

"-able to for the past-"

"-parallel universe, _assuming_-"

"-long! You _wiped _my-"

"-me again, completely fine-"

"-took away all my-"

"-clearly _wasn't_!"

"-_did_ together!"

xXx

Donna had remembered. Everything. Seeing that girl, and hearing the words 'Rose Tyler' together had completely jolted her, and the memories had rushed back in a huge torrent.

The job; Lance; the wedding; the Doctor - oh, god, the Doctor -; how she'd refused his offer; then the Adipose; the TARDIS; everything they'd done together... and then Jack. Hell, did she remember Jack. It all came flooding back at once, the Daleks, the first time she met him... And then how she'd left him.

Pushed him away, been frightened of him, ignored his pleading that he loved her. _Loved _her. She felt so, so bad, because she felt the same way about him. Utterly and completely, she was in love with Captain Jack Harkness. And he had to know that, he had to.

"_-memories, _Doctor! All the things we saw, they must have been useless to you, everything we _did _together!"

She finished, unable to keep shouting. Yes, there was more she wanted to say, so much more, but she had to take a breath, her throat was hoarse and her voice was about to go completely. She knew she looked a mess right now, her hair was windswept and her makeup wrecked from tears. But in that moment, she had never cared less.

Breathing heavily, she decided not to keep yelling. Instead, she just shot the Doctor the filthiest look she could muster, turned on her heel and stalked back into the TARDIS. She was going to tell Jack how she felt about him. And boy, she planned to do it soon.

**Instead of the line: "But in that moment, she had never cared less," I was so so tempted to write "She had never been less bothered," but I managed to restrain myself. Because I don't go with the whole typecast thing. And I don't want to be funny (Splutters). INNIT, THOUGH?!**

**Please review!**


	32. He Ought To

**These are dark days on Tyneside. Dark days indeed. Come back, King Kev!**

**Sorry. It's just that that's all I'm thinking about at the minute. In fact, I think that's what pretty much all the Geordies are thinking about right now!**

**So, fanfiction! Right, of course! Chapter 32 for your consideration, and boy, you are gonna... actually, i don't know what you're gonna think of this chapter. You'll just have to let me know!**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Thirty Two- He Ought To

Donna burst into the TARDIS, not once looking back at the Doctor's astonished face. She knew he must be utterly baffled, but she really didn't have time to think about that now. There was only one thing on her mind.

Shaking with sobs, she ran straight over to the console, and began randomly pressing, twisting and flipping the controls. Donna couldn't think straight. She was still in complete shock from remembering so fast, still furious at the Doctor, and simply _needed _to get to Cardiff. But above all that, her head was pounding like crazy, as though someone was beating a nail into her skull.

* * *

It was the very last thing the Doctor had been expecting, two sharp slaps about the face, two very angry companions and now, an impossible decision to make. He watched as Donna flounced into the police box, agonising over what to do. He knew Donna would be in total shock after remembering, she would need taking care of. But Rose was still here, crying and looking all the more beautiful for it. He _had _to sort things out with her.

And so, the Doctor chose between the two most important women - scrap that, the two most important _people -_ in his life.

xXx

"-knowing you were never going to see me again, completely fine with that fact. But you never once stopped to notice that I clearly _wasn't_!"

Rose finished at last, her throat raw, her eyes wide. She didn't know where it had come from, that anger. When she had seen him, she had expected to be completely overcome by love and happiness, but instead reality had dawned on her. The enormity of the wrong her had done hit her squarely in the face, and so he deserved to have the same done to him.

She took a deep, shaky breath in, knowing she needed to be calmer. But then she saw his face again, and he looked so hurt and confused that instead of a relaxing breath out came a huge, wracking sob.

And once she had started crying, she couldn't stop. She was vaguely aware of Donna running into the TARDIS, but all she could really think about was him. the Doctor, who meant so much to her. The Doctor, who had broken her heart all the same.

Oh god. The Doctor, who was now pulling her into his arms, into that oh-so-familiar hug. For a few seconds, she just relaxed into it. Breathed in the smell of him, embraced the warmth of him, noticed the way that when they were together, like this, everything seemed okay.

Except it wasn't. Because he had to know, had to learn that he couldn't just erase the past in this way.

She wrenched herself back, shaking her head furiously and determinedly wiping away her tears.

"No!" She cried, "That's not it, Doctor. That isn't going to fix this!"

"Well, what can I _do _to fix this?" He asked quietly, so sadly. She didn't let it affect her.

"Oh, I don't _know_!" She cried, and not in the dignified way she'd planned. More in a whiny teenager sort of way. She put her hands over her face, sobbing once more.

She heard him sigh, felt him take her hands and prise them away oh so gently so that he wouldn't hurt her. But he'd managed that already. She took a deep breath, and looked up, into his eyes.

"Rose," He said, almost in a whisper. "I'm sorry, I am so, so sorry. I really didn't know that you felt like that. I was doing what I thought was best-"

"But you always do!" She was answering him calmly now, knowing that shouting and throwing a tantrum was never going to get this sorted out. "Always, always, _always, _you do what _you _think is right. But it doesn't work like that, Doctor. You can't be right _all_ the time. No-one can, no-one can know everything, as much as you'd like to."

She knew what she was going to have to say now, but it was hard. So hard. She was glad that he remained silent as she braced herself, didn't say anything. he knew that she had to finish uninterrupted, get this off her chest.

"And you clearly aren't anywhere near." She said finally, "You didn't know that I'd be able to come back the first time. You didn't know what was going to happen to Donna... Or the human Doctor."

His brow furrowed, and his mouth formed a silent "Wh-" shape.

"He's dead." She said shortly, before he could even ask. That way, it was less painful.

His eyes widened, and he exhaled heavily, but before he could question it or apologise, the two of them heard that noise, and whipped around to face the TARDIS. Well, the faint image of the TARDIS... and then just the empty ground where it had been.

The Doctor dropped her hands, dashing over to where it had stood, the subject of the other him forgotten completely.

"No." He said, "No! Oh God, Donna, what the hell have you done? Oh, why didn't I follow her?"

Rose started at that, the panic not quite reaching her as fast as the Doctor.

"Well I was _hopin'_ that it was to talk to me, but whatever!" She said angrily, "Maybe you _should_ have gone to Donna!"

He turned to her, his face full of frustration.

"Rose, this isn't about me and you or me and Donna!" He cried, wringing his hands, "Don't you realise, life isn't always that trivial!"

And all of a sudden she was angry again. "You think I don't know that better than anyone?" She screeched, "You don't think my life has been possibly the _least..._"

Both of them were at it this time, yelling over each other, neither one taking a bit of notice of the other. Because it was just so much easier to argue than it was to try and sort this out.

But then they both stopped simultaneously. They both stood up straight, listening intently. It soon became clear that they weren't imagining it, the slow thrumming of the engines. The engines of the TARDIS, rematerialising about ten feet to the right of where it had previously been.

They both took off at a run together, and Rose realised how much she'd missed this. Not the incessant arguing, obviously, but running, with the Doctor by her side, with her every step of the way.

He reached the ship first, and ran inside without looking back. She followed close behind, wondering what the hell Donna was thinking.

Apparently, Donna didn't really know either. Rose entered to see her hysterical, randomly whacking various parts of the console, clearly without the faintest idea how to do it.

xXx

The Doctor ran forwards, his hearts going out to Donna. She was so confused, so desperate, her whole body shaking with sobs.

"Donna..." Was all he could say as he pulled her to him, holding her tightly before she smashed his machine entirely to bits.

"I need to go back!" She said frantically, and he could feel her shaking in his arms. She pulled back out of his hug, looking him straight in the eye. Her own eyes were wide and full of fear. "Doctor, you need to get me back to Cardiff, I don't know how to fl-" She couldn't finish. Her hand flew to her head and she stumbled backwards, a gasp of pain escaping her lips.

"My head," She muttered weakly, terrified, and suddenly this was the Doctor's worst nightmare all over again.

"Oh god, Donna," He said shakily. "You know what this means, right?"

She looked up at him with those haunted eyes, and slowly nodded her head. But then she snapped back up so she was standing straight.

"But that's not going to happen again." She said firmly. Well, as firmly as she could muster when she was still crying. "You're not going to do that to me. You're going to take us to Cardiff."

He sighed, "Donna-"

"No!" She suddenly exploded all over again, "Did you not hear me?! You don't get to decide this time, Doctor, you don't know what's bes- AARGH!" She doubled over in pain once more, and now she was pleading with him, begging him to just do it because she didn't have the strength - or the time.

At any other time, he would have been wiping her mind all over again like he knew he ought to. But he couldn't bring himself to, because that made three. Three people who had told him to not always do what he thought, to let other people make their own decisions.

It was the hardest thing he had ever done, and he knew he was practically digging Donna's grave, but all the same, the Doctor went against his instincts and went with those of his best friend.

In other words, he set the co-ordinates for Torchwood and pulled down sharply on the lever to set the TARDIS moving.


	33. Most Beautiful

**_And so, the end is near, I state my case, of which I'm CER-tain, I've lived..._**

**Anywho, enough of that. I do speak the truth though, this story is nearing it's end (sob). This will probably end up being the second or maybe third last chapter, and at thirty three I'd say this one's an EPIC! Hope you like, please review!**

**Donna xxx**

**PS Beth, you mimick my accent one more time, I keel you. FYI, Geordie is actually very similar to Welsh, so it makes me more Torchwood-friendly than you anyway. Ha ha!**

**PPS To all other readers, sorry about that. Seriously, though. Torchwood-friendly.**

Chapter Thirty Three- Most Beautiful

All Rose could do was watch in horror as her friend sobbed, screamed and yelled in the Doctor's direction, obviously distressed. Donna kept clutching her head, absolutely hysterical, and Rose didn't know what to do. Hadn't the Doctor said that Donna should have died right after she left? Hadn't she been shouting something about "remembering everything" earlier on?

She went up to the Doctor after he had pushed the lever, appreciating what a selfless thing he'd just done. They were far from okay, those two, but right now the important thing was Donna.

"I don't understand, she should have died." Rose whispered fearfully in his ear , "How is she okay?"

He just looked at her with that intense, grim face, and although she was mad Rose couldn't help loving him.

"She isn't."

It was that simple.

* * *

_Previously:_

_A tear spilled over Jack's cheek as he watched the ship fade, but all of a sudden he blinked. His misery far from forgotten, but overcome temporarily by amazement, he watched in shock. Because right before the TARDIS disappeared completely, another figure rounded the corner. A figure running past him, so fast it was blurred, towards the police box. The figure grabbed on to the side of the ship as he himself had done two years earlier, and dematerialized along with it._

_The only thing he'd had time to notice about the person was the mass of blonde hair tumbling down her back, shining in the winter sunlight._

It couldn't have been. Absolutely no way in hell had Rose Tyler just run around the corner and grabbed onto the TARDIS. It was impossible in many more ways than one, but Jack couldn't deny what he'd just seen. He was sure it had been her, but there was no way of knowing. No way to follow.

Once again, he was stuck here on Earth whilst the adventure took place, stranded like he was nobody. Which, to be honest, he was, without Donna. There was nothing much else in his life without her. There was Torchwood, but it seemed fruitless now. Gwen and Ianto were his friends, but they didn't understand him the way she did. Besides, he'd treated them so badly that they probably hated him. Even Donna hated him, and she was the one person he loved the most.

With a sigh, he started towards the invisible lift, nothing else to do but shut himself back up in that office and work his troubles away. Yeah, right.

But, as he reached the paving slab, he whirled around again, his eyes wide. Because, impossibly enough, he had just heard the TARDIS. The TARDIS, which had just disappeared carrying the three of them away. The TARDIS, which he'd never expected to see or hear again. But now he could see it, materializing not ten feet away from where he was standing. It had to be a mistake. This had to be the Doctor at a different time, in a different order, a Doctor who wouldn't even know Jack yet.

But no. Before Jack's very eyes, the TARDIS doors were opening with a huge creak, and Donna Noble stumbled out of them, her hair messy, her makeup smudged, her face tear streaked as she shook with sobs. But still, to Jack, she was the most beautiful creature he had seen in his whole life.

He exhaled heavily, unable to believe it. Donna looked around wildly, her eyes roaming right over him but not taking him in. She turned back to the TARDIS, her crying getting louder. The Doctor ran out after her, trying desperately to console her.

"He's not here!" she cried, her voice high pitched, "Doctor, have you got it wrong ag- AARGH!"

To Jack's horror and dismay, she bent over double with apparent pain, clutching her head. This wasn't good. Not knowing, unable to understand why she hadn't seen him, he looked down. And realized that he was standing on the perception filter fitted paving slab. With a slight laugh at how ridiculous it was, he stepped off, and hurried anxiously over to the pair.

She looked up, and fell silent for the first time. She looked deep into his eyes, and they grew a little wider, a little softer. She gave a slow gasp, as did he. Jack couldn't believe that Donna was actually standing here, really here, and seemed to know who he was.

"Jack." she whispered, her voice breaking, "I can't-" She gasped again, but this time not in wonder and love. This was an awful gasp, a gasp of excruciating pain that Donna wouldn't be able to handle for much longer.

Jack couldn't think of a single thing to do, didn't know enough about what was happening to her to think of any way to stop it. Donna's eyes closed, and she started to sway slightly, as if she couldn't stand much longer. She stumbled slightly, and Jack was by her side in an instant, keeping her on her feet. Her eyes opened, and she looked up at him, silent, not needing to say anything for him to understand what she meant. _Help me._

"What do I do?!" he cried, looking frantically at the Doctor, "How do we stop this, Doctor, she can't-"

"I don't _know!" _the Doctor yelled back, frustrated, "For once, Jack, I just... I just dunno!"

"But she can't... I can't let her..."

He couldn't speak, couldn't think about anything but the woman who was dying in his arms.

"Do something!" he screamed once again, "Doctor, take away the knowledge, do the mind thing, wipe her memories again, just don't let her die!"

"Jack, I don't-"

"You've GOT to. Don't you see, you can't let this happen! Just do something to stop the energy, absorb it, get rid of it completely, use the _screwdriver, _or something, just..."

But the Doctor wasn't listening, Jack realized.

xXx

One word out of Jack's frantic ramblings had caught his attention. _Absorb._

"Absorb." he muttered, his brain working furiously, "Absorb. Ab-soorb. ABSORB!" Something clicked into place. "Yes! Jack, you've done it! Oh, fantastic! This is-"

"DOCTOR!"

"Yes, of course. Sorry."

God, he _was _clever.

"Jack, kiss her. Kiss Donna, properly, right now."

He saw Jack look down at the woman, practically comatose, in his arms, nothing but utter confusion in his face. To be honest, the Doctor couldn't blame him.

"What?!" he demanded, as if the Doctor had finally lost it, "This is absolutely neither the time nor the-"

"Do you want Donna Noble to live?"

His quiet, calm sentence shocked even Jack into silence, like the Doctor'd known it would.

"If that's the case, Jack, then you kiss her, right now. If not, she'll die. That's a fact, it's your choice."

He hated to put it so bluntly, but it was true. And, Jack being the noble man he always had been, did as he was told. He pulled the barely conscious Donna upright, holding her so tightly, and kissed her passionately.

At any other time, it would have been an insane idea that would never have worked. But the Doctor had remembered when Rose kissed him, in the TARDIS, as he had been about to regenerate. She had absorbed that energy, and hopefully this would do the same.

The energy inside Donna right now was going to take her life. Unless something - some_one - _absorbed it. Like, say, a man who could never be killed, and therefore had plenty of lives to spare.


	34. At A Cost

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while, have spent last few days watching all three _Bourne _films and am high on the Damon love. Sigh... he's so misunderstood... and dreamy... and he _doesn't even get the girl!! _Poor Nicky. But poor Jason more... **

**Sorry. These films have affected me in a weird way. They have GOT to make a fourth one! He's so cute- er, I mean, the storyline's so interesting. Hem.**

**God, it took me _ages _to write this chapter, I don't know why. I just couldn't find the words. But I managed to cobble them together as always, and heeeere they are! Loads of love,**

**Donna xxx **

Chapter Thirty Four- At A Cost

It was the strangest advice the Doctor had ever, ever given him, and normally he would have found the role-reversal quite amusing, but right now irony was the very last thing on Jack Harkness' mind. He had kissed many, many, _many _women - well, not just women... - over the years, but never before had he kissed someone whose weight he was taking entirely, someone who was about five seconds away from unconsciousness.

But who was he to argue? And so, however wrong it felt, Jack pulled Donna upright, supporting her completely, and did the thing he wanted to do most. He kissed her.

He started out tentatively, almost shyly, as Donna was not responding at all. She was just limp, her eyes closed, and Jack didn't think it was working. He felt ridiculous, standing there kissing her and getting no reaction whatsoever. But then, after a minute, he knew he was doing the right thing. A strange feeling came over him, something he was unable to describe.

More than a kiss was passing between him and Donna, so much more. He felt her limp body tense slightly, felt her hands grip his arms, oh so gently at first. But then she seemed to awake completely.

Her eyes sprung open, and she took her own weight completely. Suddenly she was kissing him back, so passionately. He felt her hands wrap around him, and he tightened his grip on her, felt her hands slide up into his hair, completely aware of what she was doing now.

Jack felt warm, felt as if the two of them were engulfed in energy, wasn't aware of the Doctor or the TARDIS or any of their surroundings. Something was transferring from him to Donna, something he couldn't put his finger on.

And then the last of it left him, the last of it forced itself into her, the energy or whatever it was. They broke apart, both gasping for breath but both with huge smiles on their faces.

xXx

The Doctor was stunned but so, so relieved as Donna and Jack broke apart, both smiling. Apparently, it had worked. And thank God, because he really hadn't been sure. It had just been an idea, a spur-of-the-moment revelation, and he didn't know how he would have lived with himself if she had died.

But thankfully, it looked like he wasn't going to have to find out. Because she was standing up straight now, entirely fine. Her cheeks were pleasantly flushed instead of the ghostly white she'd been a minute before. And, best of all, she was smiling broadly, such a sweet smile as she looked up at Jack.

xXx

"Hello, you." she said quietly, looking up at him. He grinned back at her, that Jack Harkness smile. He ought to have a copyright put on the way his eyes sparkled, the way his lips turned up just ever so slightly at the edge. No one else Donna knew could achieve that.

"Hello, yourself."

She gave a small laugh, not sure how to put into words what she was feeling. There was just so much.

"I've missed you."

That was a tricky one, she thought, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, Jack, I'd love to be able to say I missed you too, but... well. To be honest, I didn't know who you were."

He laughed again, falling straight back into their easy repertoire.

"Charming, that! I lend you an expert blend of my own eternal life and I don't get a thank you? I don't even get recognition?"

xXx

The Doctor smiled sadly as Donna and Jack reconnected. They were so, so perfect for each other. Two feisty people, both assertive and cheeky - they should have clashed, but somehow it only made them fit together even better.

He had had that with Rose. They had been perfect, exactly in tune with each other - and then he had blown it. Broken her heart whilst trying to fix it.

"...lend you an expert blend of my own eternal life and I don't get a thank you? I don't even get recognition?"

Jack's voice wafted over, and something suddenly hit the Doctor. Yes, he needed to sort things out with Rose, but right now he had to make sure Donna and Jack were okay. He strode over to them, a worried look on his face.

"Donna, I-"

He couldn't finish, not when all of a sudden he had arms full of red hair, was being clung on to with more strength than he'd known Donna to have, and was being showered with kisses.

"You GENIUS!" she shrieked, jubilant, "Doctor, consider every bad thing I've ever ever said about you taken back. Every comment, every slap... well, actually, you deserved some of the slaps, but... not now! Not when you've done this for me, saved me, not when you're-"

"Not entirely sure what I've done." he finished for her, calm in contrast to her overexcited state. Jack looked up, his face serious now.

"What?" he asked sharply.

"You said _lend. _You _lent _Donna the energy. But Jack, I don't know. Yes, you've saved her, yes, she'll be fine now... but maybe at a cost."

"Doctor, what the hell-"

"Hang on a minute." He reached into his pockets, feeling around for something he could use. There was an old DVD remote control, a little wind up toy chicken, his 3-D glasses, a pair of chopsticks... and finally, what he was looking for. He pulled out the object, and saw that it was a business card from Miss Foster, the adipose nanny. He _really _needed to clean out his pockets.

It didn't matter, he thought, as he handed the card to a confused looking Jack. He had to know if his suspicions were true.

"Uh, actually, Doctor, I've gotten over my previous insecurities. I'm happy with my current weight, although slightly offended-"

"Give yourself a paper cut."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Just do it."

Jack shot a baffled glance at Donna, who shrugged, but motioned for him to do as he was told. So, with a suspicious look in the Doctor's direction, he held the card over the tip of his thumb and drew it back sharply. Donna winced as it neatly sliced the skin, but the Doctor had other things to worry about than Jack's pain threshold.

"Happy now I've done a little self-harming? Because if so I would recommend counseling-"

"Shuddup a minute!"

Jack and even Donna fell silent at the Doctor's urgent tone of voice. The three of them stared in silence for a minute at Jack's hand, where a small drop of blood was trickling down his thumb.

Having seen enough, the Doctor looked up to a mystified expression from Donna - and a wide-eyed, disbelieving look of shock from Jack.

"What is it?" she asked, seeing their expressions, "What's wrong, what's happened? Doctor? _Jack?_"

For a moment, the two men ignored her.

"Does this mean...?" Jack asked, almost in whisper, and the Doctor gave a slow nod.

"What the hell are you on about?!" Donna yelled, getting worked up again.

"Any other time I get a cut or bruise or wound... It just heals straight away." Jack said quietly. "Its part of the whole immortality thing... or at least it _was._"

The Doctor sighed at Jack's words, and turned to Donna.

"_Lent, _he said. But that's not true, Donna. Jack didn't just give you _some_ of that energy... he gave it to you entirely. To fix you for good."

Her eyes widened as she understood at last. Her mouth open, she turned to the Captain.

"So... that makes you..."

"Yup." Jack said, and to the Doctor's surprise, a smile broke out on his face, "As mortal as the next guy."

**You know what? I'll give you an Ultimatum. You review and tell me what you thought (****leaving your Identity, of course). That would be absolutely Supreme(acy).**

**Donna xxx**


	35. Grown Up

**Have just had lush time after school with my best friend, cutting out funny celeb photos from magazines for a big collage and drooling over her giant David Tennant poster. The joys of being a teenager...**

**Right, here we go for the second last time. Sob. I planned to write this as the last chapter, but I guess there'll be one more. Yay! This is uber-long, 'cos there was actually quite a lot to fit in. I must warn you - this is the fluffiest chapter EVER which I love, but I know some people despise it. I can't think why...**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Thirty Five- Grown Up

Jack let out a little disbelieving laugh, completely overwhelmed. This morning he had woken up the same as any other day, no reason to live but unable to die. But this day had proved to be so, so far from normal.

Because today, all his dreams had come true. Donna was back, right here beside him where she belonged, and he knew he could spend the rest of his life with her. That thought alone was enough to make him pull her into a hug yet again, the small, sharp pain in his finger forgotten entirely.

He found the news absolutely amazing, but evidently the Doctor and Donna had other ideas. She pulled back almost straight away, her eyes wide and fearful, although Jack wasn't quite sure why.

"What?" he demanded, "You don't think this is fantastic?"

Donna bit her lip, her face sorrowful, "But what if... Doctor, you don't think..."

"I don't know. I've never exactly seen anything like this before; we're in uncharted waters. But there's only one way to find out."

And as a majorly confused Jack watched, the Doctor picked the discarded business card up off the floor and handed it to Donna. Something clicked in the Captain's head, and he realized exactly what his friends were suggesting.

"Oh, no." Jack said in disbelief, "It can't have... you don't think that energy did anything more than fix you, do you?"

"I dunno." she sighed, "But I hope not, 'cos I am _really_ not in the mood for pass-the-immortality-parcel."

With a bitter laugh, Jack waited expectantly. Donna took the card from the Doctor and held it to her finger - but didn't cut it.

"I can't." she admitted.

"What? Why?"

"I don't want to hurt myself! I'm such a wimp, I hate paper cuts."

"Oh God!" he smirked, "That's what this is about?"

"You do it!"

"No! _I_ don't wanna hurt you!"

"Oh, for God's sake, Jack, now isn't the time to be chivalrous!"

She tried to shove the card into his hand, but he refused to take it.

"Just do it yourself! I did!"

"So? I'm just a girl!"

Jack burst out laughing at how ridiculous this was. God, he had missed her, the way she managed to exaggerate _everything _so it was a huge deal to give herself something as simple as a paper cut.

xXx

The Doctor just looked confused as they laughed, not entirely sure what was funny. He didn't think the two of them knew either, they were just so happy to be back with each other.

He and Rose had used to make each other laugh, so long ago. Back in that simple time when all they wanted to do was explore the stars and enjoy each other's company. When New Earth, the Olympics and Elvis concerts had been their everyday, no parallel universes or separation. No anger or pain.

The Doctor longed for that simpler time, but knew deep down that it would never be like that again. He and Rose had seen too much since then, been through so many terrible things. Made mistakes and suffered the consequences. In other words, the two of them had grown up.

"Oh, for God's sake!" he cried finally, the sight of them so happy giving him an ache he couldn't explain. He grabbed the card from Donna, just meaning to get a hold of it so they'd focus on the problem again. But as he yanked it from her hand, it sliced against the skin, leaving a shallow cut in between Donna's index finger and thumb.

"Jesus!" she yelped in pain, her hand jumping to her mouth. She sucked on the cut, her face screwed up.

"My God, she wasn't lying about that low pain threshold." Jack muttered to the Doctor as Donna hopped up and down. But then the smiles disappeared from both faces, their attention focused straight back on her. She stood still. Jack held his breath. She looked him straight in the eye, and didn't break the contact as she slowly lowered the hand down so they could all see.

So they could all see the small cut that was still on Donna's hand after at least a minute, not healed up and not looking as if it was going to be any time soon.

* * *

_Previously:_

_"I don't understand, she should have died." Rose whispered fearfully in his ear , "How is she okay?"_

_He just looked at her with that intense, grim face, and although she was mad Rose couldn't help loving him._

_"She isn't."_

After that simple, heartbreaking statement, the Doctor's attention was focused entirely on Donna as she continued to sob and shriek. All Rose could do was watch as he desperately tried to console her. As usual, he tried to smooth things over, no matter how bad things were. She had never been good like that; Rose lost her temper far too easily. It was one of the reasons she loved him so much.

But no. She was angry at him. At least, she was _trying _to be. But it was so hard when she was actually so pleased to see him, so overwhelmed by the love and emotion that had hit her when she'd clapped eyes on that face... she didn't know _what_ she was feeling.

She stood, not knowing what to do with herself, absolutely useless. They finally landed, and immediately Donna was breaking out of the Doctor's grasp and dashing toward the door. He was right behind her, not even looking back as he ran out of the TARDIS. And Rose was left in the control room all alone.

Her first thought was to follow, but as she looked around at the oh-so-familiar surroundings she couldn't bring herself to leave. Slowly, she walked over and ran a hand around the rim of the console, a sad look on her face.

When she'd been in here a year ago, she hadn't really had time to take it all in, acknowledge the fact that she was back in the ship that felt like home more than her flat ever had. She'd been in, defeated the Daleks, back to Bad Wolf Bay and that was it. There had been no time to look around, explore her memories. Biting her lip, she looked over her shoulder at the doors, and knew they'd get on just fine without her for a while. There was something she wanted to do.

She walked slowly down the corridor leading away from the control room, towards the room that had once been hers. Had_ once _been, because surely he'd changed it by now. Cleared it out, used it for something else.

But, as she slowly opened the door a crack, she was surprised. Because he hadn't changed it. No, this was still her room, untouched. Leaning against the doorframe, she smiled to herself as a memory hit her.

_He opened a door proudly, and gestured for her to go in._

_"What's this?"_

_"What d'you think? This is your room." he said in his Northern accent, as if she had asked the most ridiculous question ever._

_"Really? Like, for me?"_

_"God, you humans really do get slower by the minute, don't you?" he responded, his blue eyes flashing cheekily. _

_"Oi! But, if I get a room all to myself... Does that mean I can stay for a while?"_

_"Why? Were you plannin' on leavin' any time soon?"_

_She narrowed her eyes, "D'you want me to?"_

_"No!" he insisted quickly, a little _too _fast. "I'd love you to stay, you know I would. As long as you want. As long as possible, preferably."_

_She grinned at him. "Good. 'Cos, I hope to be here for a long time." There was a moment of silence between them as they just looked at each other, nothing needing to pass between them. And then:_

_"Right then. I'll er... leave you to settle in." _

_And, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, he was off down the corridor with a small smile on his face. Rose sat on the bed, watching him go with an identical smile on hers._

She smiled now at the memory of how they used to be, so very long ago. Even way back then she'd wanted to stay, even back then her worst fear had been being separated from the Doctor. She'd thought he felt the same way... until he went and _caused _their separation.

Tears came to her eyes as she looked around at the room, at the bed which remained unmade. The dressing table which was still strewn with make up, hair brushes and the like. The wardrobe, one door still open, preserved in the state she'd left it three long years ago. Of course, she thought, it was the day she'd taken a load of washing to her mother's, completely unaware that that day was to be the worst day of her life.

But the tears weren't because of the objects themselves, but what they meant. The Doctor hadn't moved them, not one tiny thing. He had just shut the door on the room, left it alone completely. He had never been in there again - and Rose knew it was because it would have made him sad. If he didn't care about her, then he would have cleared out that room in the blink of an eye. But he had left it because he regretted leaving her behind, wished she was back with him.

And Rose knew in that instant just how much she must really mean to him, how much he hated their separation even more than she did.

She didn't need to be there any more, didn't need to hang around in some dusty room when she could be with him. What was she doing, skulking about on her own, spending one single second away from him, wasting time? Letting the door slam, she ran as fast as she could back to the control room, and was out the door without a backward glance at the console.

She came out into the sunshine to see Donna and Jack walking away hand in hand, laughing and smiling at each other. Rose smiled, and leaned against the TARDIS as she turned to the Doctor, who was watching the couple as well. There was just one thought in her head: _they've got their happy ending. It's time for me to have mine._

She saw the Doctor watching them as well, saw the weary look on his face as he turned back to the police box to see her leaning against it. He hesitantly walked closer, as if afraid she was going to attack him.

When he finally reached her, she realized she didn't know what was happening with Jack and Donna, was unsure how the problem had been solved.

"Are they gonna be alright?" she asked quietly, because it was easier to put the topic of _them _off for a while.

"Yeah, they'll be fine. Jack kissed her, absorbed the energy that was hurting her."

She gave a small laugh, "That's very him."

"Yeah. I said we'd meet them back at the Hub, after..."

He was apparently unsure of what to say, unsure of what was going to happen between them. He just knew that_ something_ had to. Luckily, Rose knew exactly what that was, how that conversation was going to go. She took a deep breath, and took the plunge.

"That was a good thing you did back there, Doctor. When you brought us here. I could tell you didn't think it was the right thing to do, but-"

"It was what Donna wanted." he finished for her. "I personally thought it was the worst thing for her, but I was thinking about what you said. Well actually, what you screamed at me..."

She gave a small laugh here, never breaking the eye contact between them.

"But you weren't the first person to say that to me. Jack said basically the same thing - actually, he yelled it as well - after I wiped Donna's mind. And Donna said it herself too, when she was..." the Doctor paused, "When she was _shouting- _do you see a pattern emerging here?"

Rose laughed properly, though her eyes were full of tears.

"I can't really speak for Jack and Donna, but... I didn't mean to shout at you. I just... I was so in_furiated. _I didn't understand how you could have _left_ me..."

She trailed off as a few tears spilled over. She took a deep breath before carrying on, needing her voice to be steady.

"We've changed, Doctor. Both of us. I'm not the innocent kid who can't think for 'erself anymore; you're not the uncaring guy with the 'leave domesticity to the fools' philosophy any more. We've both grown up, but the one thing I've wanted, the only thing that's mattered to me all this time is that we're together. I've always known that as long as you and me are alright, as long as the two of us are together, we can get through anything. Because I dunno about you, but I'm pretty sure I can't survive without you there. Believe me, I've tried, and it's like... the puzzle's not complete. I need you."

Her voice had started to waver, but she didn't care, she was just so glad she'd got all that off her chest and that the Doctor hadn't interrupted her while she said it all. She looked deep into his eyes now, and he gave a small smile.

"You're right, Rose. But there are some things that don't ever change. And the one thing constant in my life, no matter how crazy things get, my one constant is you... And just how much I love you."

He had actually said it. Told her he loved her, and unlike last time he wasn't running back to the TARDIS. He wasn't pulling away as she kissed him, but embracing her, responding eagerly. This time, he wasn't abandoning her but picking her up, pulling her closer to him with such passion she thought she might just faint.

But Rose had never been so glad she was awake, because this way she could look straight into his eyes as they finally pulled back. Could gaze at him freely, and receive a look back that spelled just one thing. Love.

**All together now: AAAAAAAAAAW!! Let me know what you thought, there's a tear in my eye for sure...**

**Donna xxx**


	36. Don't, Just Don't

**Well, this is it. The End. The END - noooooooooo!! Can I just say how much I have ADORED writing this story, have loved reading your lovely kind reviews. If you're still reading at this point, thank you so much for persevering, I never dreamed I would get to 36 chapters! **

**As for the chapter itself, I warn you there is an ENORMOUS amount of fluffy cuteness, it felt like the only way to end this oh-so-stressful story. And FYI, no, that didn't really happen at the Olympics, I just needed a mystery.**

**I want to dedicate this to Beth (Previously Cricket and Crumpets, now A Rose By Any Other Name - but she might have changed it by now as she does so often!), my faithful Beta and she who brings ABBA to my life. Thanks baby!**

**It would be lush if you could maybe leave me perhaps a teensy weensy review, even just to tell me it was a crap ending. Which I'm now worried it was. EEP! Let me know!**

**Thank you once again, and for the very last time:**

**Donna xxx**

Chapter Thirty Six- Don't, Just Don't

"I swear to God it was around here somewhere..."

Rose giggled as the Doctor spun around, his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Doctor, weren't you _just _here, like, an hour ago?"

"Yeah, well, so were you!"

"_I _was running, as fast as it is possible to run, to grab on to the outside of our lovely blue home. I apologize if I didn't stop at the local information point and grab some leaflets!"

It was amazing how they'd fallen straight back into step, back into their old banter and teasing. Rose felt as if she'd never been away.

"I bet it's down 'ere." she guessed, and left the Doctor still peering all around him to walk down a little side street.

"How would you know?" he asked, catching up with her, slipping his hand around hers automatically as they walked.

"It's the years of bein' a tourist with my clueless mother. I can sniff out an information centre from a mile off."

"Well that's a bit ridiculous, Rose. I mean, yes, you..." he trailed off as they arrived outside the battered building, and she folded her arms in triumph.

"What d'you 'ave to say?" she asked him sternly, her eyebrows raised.

"I bet you had a map." was all he muttered as he stalked inside. She ran after him, a smile spreading across her face.

"Ianto!" the Doctor greeted the young man behind the desk cheerfully, "Lovely to see you again!"

"Er... yeah." Ianto said, a little cautiously. "Hello."

"And, sorry about before." the Doctor said. "You must have been a bit freaked out, but thanks for keeping Donna up here."

Ianto seemed to relax a little.

"Yeah, well, she seemed... nice."

A small smile was threatening to creep across his face.

"I am sorry about her. She... wasn't herself."

"I know. She apologized a lot. I mean, a lot. She wouldn't shut up about it, actually..."

The Doctor just laughed, as did Ianto. Rose wasn't really sure what they were on about, but he seemed nice enough.

"What did Donna do?" she asked, when the two of them were on their way down the stairs.

"With Ianto? Took a leaf out of Jack's book. You know, Jack's_ novel_ where flirting with anything that moves is pretty normal?"

She smirked, "Ah_. That_ book. Quite a pair, those two, eh?"

"I'll say. Of course, that was when she couldn't remember him. Or you, or any of it."

"Oh. And... _why _exactly couldn't she remember?"

"That... is a long story. I'll explain it all later, but right now you've _got_ to see this place."

She smiled to herself. Rose loved the way he said it so casually, and she knew that there would _be _a later. There was nothing that was going to split the two of them up now. She slipped her hand into his, and he squeezed back, giving her a tender look.

They entered the hub, a huge room filled with impressive devices and complicated computers that Rose would never understand. But where was Donna? Or Jack? Well, she knew a sure-fire way to find the Captain, at least.

"So this is the infamous Torchwood?" she asked, a little louder than necessary, a smile on her face, "It's a bit... _different _from Dad's. Smaller."

She grinned, and winked at the Doctor, then practically shouted the last part. "Definitely smaller. And nowhere near as _advanced_!"

It had the desired effect.

"You wanna watch it, Tyler." came the American drawl from behind her, and the two of them spun around to see the Captain, leaning against a desk, arms folded and with _that _grin on his face, "You're makin' me feel inferior over here."

"Oh, I'm sure your ego could do with bein' taken down a peg or two." she retorted, before pulling him into a hug, "Can't believe you're _still_ on this planet, Jack!"

"You can talk!" he laughed. "A parallel universe, was it?"

"Can't get rid of her." the Doctor admitted, smiling and slipping an arm around her. "You know these women."

"Oh, stop it!" Rose punched him playfully on the arm. Jack led them up a flight of stairs, where there was a huge sign on the white brick wall saying _Torchwood. _Pretty impressive in Rose's books, but she wasn't really concentrating on the decor. No, because the area had two comfy sofas in it, and one of these sat Donna Noble, chatting to a dark-haired woman Rose remembered as Gwen.

As they entered, however, Donna abruptly stopped talking. She stood up almost nervously, and smiled at Rose. Neither of them were really sure what to say, until Rose couldn't bear it any longer and threw her arms around the redhead. And they were off. There were plenty of squeals, "I can't believe it's you"s, "I'm so glad you're alive"s and "What the hell even happened to you?"s.

The Doctor and Jack just watched in amazement as the pitch of their voices got higher and higher, unable to understand how such hysteria could be achieved.

"So, Doctor," Jack muttered, "What were you saying about women?"

The Doctor, a little bewildered, gestured at his noisy companions. "Enough said, I think. They sort of speak for themselves."

Donna and Rose either didn't hear or chose to ignore them, and carried on chattering away.

"I am _so _sorry you had to see me..."

"No, honestly, It's _me _who should be apologizing, throwing that tantrum..."

"It wasn't your fault..."

"It _really _wasn't yours, you weren't..."

They finally quietened to the Doctor and Jack's relief, both of whom were starting to develop serious headaches.

"Are we done, girls?" the Doctor asked cheekily, which received an "Oi!" from both women simultaneously.

"You two are getting pretty good at that synchronized thing." Jack commented, "But shall we save that for later?"

Rose grinned, unable to believe that this was real. That after everything she had been through in the last three years, she was back with the man she loved and her two best friends in the universe.

xXx

Gwen sat, unsure of what exactly to say, not really feeling it was her place. Those four had a connection, and she got the feeling they needed some time to talk alone before things could get back to normal. She got on incredibly well with Donna, and loved the effect the other woman had on Captain Jack. She was happy for Donna to join their team, and knew they would click, but right now they needed some privacy.

She stood up suddenly as they were chatting, and smiled at Jack.

"I'm just gonna head upstairs for a bit, you know, give you lot a bit o' privacy..."

"Gwen, you don't have to do tha-"

"No, no, I have to anyway!" she said hurriedly, "I, er... need... something."

She didn't want them to think she was uncomfortable, but her brain was being annoyingly slow. _Say something! _she urged herself as she started towards the door.

"Ianto!" she called, so they would all hear, "Yan, have you got that, er..."

_Think. Think think think. _"Have you got that... paperwork?"

_Oh God. _

"About the... um..." _Bugger. _

"Weevils!"

That would do, she decided as she ran up the stairs, glad that they could no longer hear her pathetic excuses.

xXx

"So." Jack said with a grin. "I guess everything worked out, then."

Rose looked up at the Doctor, "When was the last time that 'appened, eh?"

"Well, there was..." he thought for a moment. "The time when..."

He swallowed, "Uum..." God, had that _ever _happened before?

Donna giggled and raised her eyebrows. "Lost for words. That's another first, Doctor. It's not often the spaceman can't think of anything to say."

"Oi!" The Doctor warned, echoing Donna and Rose, "Watch it, Earth girl!"

"Oh, shut it, Zaphod."

The Doctor burst out laughing - on the inside, that was. Like Donna was ever going to hear him admit that she was clever. But she was... maybe no longer with all the technical stuff, but the banter had never been better. She was the only person he knew who could always, always, _always _be relied on for a witty comeback or a clever nickname.

"Ooh! That's a new one! Inventive, Donna, I'll give you that."

"Jeez," Jack whispered, "They're like five year olds."

Rose stifled a laugh as Donna was quick with a comeback for the Doctor.

"Which is more than can be said for you! _Earth Girl, _that's pathetic. I think you'll find you've used that one before, Doctor, and I think you've forgotten that I remember!"

"And thank God you do!" Jack said, putting an end to their playful bickering. He smiled, and slung an arm around her.

"'Cos, I gotta tell ya, life was a _lot _more boring without you here, Donna."

"Yep," she agreed, "Wasn't that great for me, either."

Her face straightened, "Seriously, though, Doctor. I can't thank you enough."

"You don't need to."

"No, but... I..."

She didn't know what to say, couldn't put into words how infinitely grateful she was to him. So instead, she just put her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.

After a second he was hugging back, no words passing between them but none needing to - they both understood what the other meant. When Donna's life had crumbled, she had met the Doctor, and he had been the one to sort it out. When she had been so lost, not known what she wanted to do with her life, he had found her again, and shown her just what she had been missing.

Likewise, Donna had done so much for him. When he had lost Rose he had been close to the edge, but she had been the one to pull him back up. She had been the one to stop him when he went too far, had been the one to bring laughter and light back into his life.

When she had met the man of her dreams, he had supported her. When he had lost the woman of his, she had been the shoulder for him to cry on. The Doctor knew just how much she meant to him, because for the month that he had thought her as good as dead, he hadn't wanted to live. And that, in his books, was the definition of a very best friend.

This was far too much for them to say out loud, but the two of them knew just how much they owed each other.

"You're gonna visit, right?" Jack asked, "I mean, I know you got a universe to see and all, but I reckon you've got about 40 years left of me and Donna first."

And although it was strange, Jack loved that fact. He loved that he would age, because it was finally something normal in his life, the something ordinary that he had always craved. And besides, there was no-one he would rather grow old with than her.

The Doctor and Rose nodded fervently.

"You'll be sick to death of us, most likely!" she said with a grin.

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off as his two teammates dashed into the room, having obviously just run all the way down the stairs.

"Captain!" Ianto called, dashing straight to a computer, "Donna!"

"UFO sightin'." Gwen explained, "Just over Cardigan Bay, over a hundred people 'ave rung the police. We 'aven't got a description as yet, but we're workin' on gettin' some CCTV up, we'll see what we can make of it. What d'you reckon?"

A huge grin spread over Jack's face, that look of pure joy at a new adventure beginning.

"I reckon, Donna, that your first mission just begun. What d'you say?"

"I say let's do what we do best." she said quietly, smiling, then immediately ran down and joined Ianto at the computer.

"Now I may not be so good with fancy tools, but code I can do!" she cried, typing frantically, "Years workin' as a temp in all sorts of dodgy offices weren't for nothing. Just checking to see if there've been any blips, disturbances in the rift around Cardigan lately..."

The Doctor and Rose exchanged a surprised glance as she continued, as did Ianto and Gwen. Jack just grinned, and looked prouder of her than he ever had before. He knew, like they all did in that moment, that Donna would be absolutely fine at Torchwood.

* * *

We're not gonna help 'em with the UFO?" Asked a surprised Rose as the Doctor opened the TARDIS doors.

"Naah." he replied, wrinkling his nose, "Torchwood deal with that stuff every day, they've got no need for us! Good team, they are, glad to know it's them who are protecting this little planet while we're out in the far reaches of the universe!"

Rose bit her lip, and leaned against the console. "So then... you an' me... we're good?"

The Doctor paused from fiddling with the controls to look her straight in the eye.

"Of course we are." he said softly.

"This is definitely what you want?"

"Rose, how could you even doubt that?"

He was close to a whisper now, looking at her so softly, with such passion. "This... this is all I've _ever_ wanted. It's like you said... As long as the two of us are together, we can get through anything."

She gave a small smile, "I know."

It was all she had wanted as well, to be with this amazing, incredible man who she loved more than anything, and to have him love her back. And to know that they would never run out of time, that they could literally be together forever.

"So!" he cried, breaking their gaze and clapping his hands together. "Shall we pick up where we left off?"

"When d'you mean?" she asked with a grin, shaking her head slightly.

"Well, the last proper place we visited... was the Olympics, right?"

"I guess... yeah. Yeah, it would've been. God, that seems like a lifetime ago."

"Rose? Time machine."

"Of course." she laughed, "So, where to?"

He thought for a moment, "2012 it was, right? Well, seeing as that went a bit wrong and I do owe you some games... How about the other London Olympics?"

"Sounds good to me!"

In his element, he danced around the console, flipping switches, turning dials and pressing various buttons. She grinned, that was just _so _Doctor.

"Take your pick!" he said, "1908 or 1948?"

She exhaled, "God, I dunno. 1948?"

"Ah, that's my Rose!"

"What?" she asked, so happy, "What did I do?"

"You chose the _mystery _Olympics!"

His eyes sparkled as he said it, "A series of strange disappearances, spread throughout the 1948 games. One contestant from every single event pulled out at the last minute and nobody ever found out why. I mean, how could they, it's not as if anyone could go back and investigate..."

He raised an eyebrow, and Rose cottoned on.

"Doctor?" she teased, an echo of him, "Time machine."

He laughed, and immediately sprung to life. Trying desperately to remember what she knew about working the TARDIS, she helped him, and together they piloted her to the year 1948.

Rose headed straight down the ramp, but before she could open the door he put a hand on her shoulder. She turned, surprised, to see him looking suddenly serious.

"Rose, just before we go out there, before we start again," he said quietly, desperately, "I need to say it one last time, need to make sure you know that I am so, _so _sorry about-"

But he was cut off as she reached up and placed a finger against his lips to stop him.

"Don't." she said softly, gazing up into his deep brown eyes, "Just don't."

And so he didn't. Instead, he smiled, and leaned down to place a feather light kiss on her lips. With a wink, he took her hand, and they left the TARDIS together to start their next adventure, to see and do incredible and no doubt dangerous things. To witness death and darkness, but to do their very best to save it.

In other words, to do what they did best.

**The End**


End file.
